Introduction > In response to the chikungunya outbreak on Réunion Island in 2005 and 2006, an epidemiological surveillance system was established by the Interregional Epidemiology Unit of Réunion and Mayotte (CIRE) as soon as the first cases appeared. Depending on the epidemic phase, this system relied on vector control teams, which conducted active case-finding around reported cases, as well as on a network of sentinel physicians. Methods > An innovative epidemiological surveillance system using electronic data transmission was developed in March 2006 by the companies Séphira and Réunion-Télécom in partnership with Cire. This system relied on the participation of volunteer general practitioners who transmitted epidemiological data electronically via the standalone terminals used to send electronic treatment forms to the social security funds. Using the patient’s Vitale card, each doctor entered information regarding consultations related to chikungunya. With each data collection, this information was transmitted via the Séphira server in mainland France to Réunion-Télécom, which sorted and aggregated the data before reporting it weekly to the Cire. Results > A total of 44 doctors participated in this system, representing just over 6% of the island’s private general practitioners. The system was implemented starting in week 14 of 2006. The collected data made it possible to track the evolution of the disease’s incidence by calculating the proportion of procedures related to chikungunya among those performed by participating physicians. For weeks 14 through 26 of 2006, when epidemic transmission was widespread across the entire territory, the data from Réunion-Télécom were found to be closely correlated with the results from the sentinel physician network used to monitor epidemic trends (correlation coefficient = 0.97). Conclusion > The system offers the advantage of enabling, with minor software adaptations, the monitoring of any other disease with epidemic potential (dengue, influenza, etc.), thereby opening new avenues for infectious disease surveillance.