An unusually high incidence of Kawasaki disease in children was reported in a French centre for emerging infectious diseases: 17 cases in 11 days, in contrast to an average of 2 cases per month in 2018–2019. In 82% of the cases, IgG antibodies for SARS-CoV-2 were detected, suggesting an association between the virus and this syndrome in children. Although only six patients had recent history of an acute respiratory infection, all patients had gastrointestinal symptoms before the onset of Kawasaki disease symptoms. Remarkably, almost 60% of the patients originated from sub-Saharan Africa or Caribbean islands, and 12% from Asia, raising a possible genetic predisposition. Although Kawasaki disease-like syndromes have previously been linked to other viral infections, these patients showed higher levels of pro-inflammatory markers than other cohorts, which may reflect a particularly strong immunological reaction to SARS-CoV-2.