Zika Virus in West Africa: A Seroepidemiological Study between 2007 and 2012 (original) (raw)

Continued transmission of Zika virus in humans in West Africa, 1992-2016

The Journal of infectious diseases, 2017

First identified in 1947 in Uganda, Zika virus (ZIKV) has remained largely unstudied until the recent outbreak in Latin America. This study aimed to measure the prevalence of ZIKV in febrile patients in Senegal and Nigeria in samples collected from 1992-2016. The seroprevalence of ZIKV was 6.2% based on ZIKV IgM and negative for dengue reactivity. ZIKV envelope (E) was amplified from 4 samples. Phylogenetic analysis showed that the ZIKVs belonged to the African lineage, grouping with either the Nigerian or MR766 sub-lineages. This study provides evidence that ZIKV has been silently circulating in West Africa for two decades.

Zika virus epidemiology: from Uganda to world pandemic, an update

Epidemiology and Infection, 2018

Zika virus (ZIKV) infection is an emergent worldwide public health problem. Historically, 84 countries have reported vector-borne ZIKV transmission, 61 of which report ongoing transmission. It is a Flavivirus transmitted through arthropods belonging to the Aedes genus. Since 2015, ZIKV infections have increased dramatically; with 1.3 million people infected during 2015 in Brazil alone. This paper's objective is to highlight the conjectural epidemiological points of the virus' dissemination. The digital archives Pubmed, MEDLINE, EMBASE and Cochrane were searched for papers that assessed aspects of ZIKV transmission and epidemiology. The first isolation occurred in Uganda in 1947. Since then, important outbreaks were documented globally. Consequently, an emergent public health problem arose from a rapidly increasing incidence and its association with the development of neurological diseases such as microcephaly and Guillain-Barré syndrome. Key factors in the successful containment of outbreaks include surveillance of mosquitos in the neighbourhood, an early mosquito control treatment, an assertive information campaign, and the involvement of the local population and healthcare workers. As such, while ZIKV seems to be spreading globally in a similar manner to other arboviruses, such as Dengue and Chikungunya viruses, it can also be rapidly contained due to the pre-existing availability of necessary resources and regulatory tools as control measures. This review aims to provide a description of those characteristics of ZIKV infection that may be useful in the construction of effective outbreak control strategies.

Serological Evidence of Zika Virus Circulation in Burkina Faso

Pathogens

Zika virus (ZIKV) and dengue virus (DENV) are two closely related members of the Flaviviridae family, both transmitted by mosquitoes of the genus Aedes, and are among the arboviruses most at risk to human health. Burkina Faso has been facing an upsurge in DENV outbreaks since 2013. Unlike DENV, there is no serological evidence of ZIKV circulation in humans in Burkina Faso. The main objective of our study was to determine the seroprevalence of ZIKV and DENV in blood donors in Burkina Faso. A total of 501 donor samples collected in the two major cities of the country in 2020 were first tested by a competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay to detect flavivirus antibodies. Positive sera were then tested using Luminex to detect ZIKV and DENV antibodies and virus-specific microneutralization tests against ZIKV were performed. The ZIKV seroprevalence was 22.75% in the donor samples and we found seropositivity for all DENV-serotypes ranging from 19.56% for DENV-1 to 48.86% for DENV-2. M...

A Review on the State of Zika Virus in Nigeria

JOURNAL OF RESEARCH AND REVIEW IN SCIENCE

Background: Zika virus, a flavivirus primarily transmitted through bites of mosquito (Aedes aegypti), blood transfusion, sexual contact and motherto-child was named after Zika forest in Uganda where it was first isolated from a sentinel monkey in 1947. It is a positively sensed single stranded RNA virus (+ssRNA) of approximately 11000Kb in length, encoding three (3) structural and seven (7) non-structural proteins. The virus has spread across several countries of the world between 1947 and today. Between March 2015 and November 2016, about 500,000 to 1.5 million people have been reported infected with Zika virus in Brazil alone, resulting in several cases of microcephaly, severe brain and ocular malformations, abortions, Guillain-Barre syndrome and even deaths. Cases of Zika virus infections have also been documented in some African countries with resulting isolation and sequencing of several strains. In Nigeria however, the first case of Zika virus was reported as far back as 1954 ...

Retrospective investigation of IgM antibodies against Zika virus in serum from febrile patients in Mozambique, 2009–2015

BMC Research Notes, 2019

Objective: Zika virus (ZIKV) has emerged as an important health problem worldwide. The aim of this study was to investigate the occurrence, geographical distribution and trend of immunoglobulin M (IgM) antibodies against ZIKV between 2009 and 2015 in Mozambique. Results: The median age of participants was 3 years [interquartile range (IQR): 1.0-6.0 years)] and 56.5% (480/850) of them were male. Of the 850 samples, 42 (4.9%) were positive for IgM antibodies against ZIKV. Positive samples were found in 9 provinces of the country. Frequency of IgM antibodies against ZIKV was slightly higher in patients aged 5-9 years old, and in the north region of the country.

Expansão da circulação do vírus Zika da África à América, 1947-2018: revisão da literatura*

Epidemiologia e Serviços de Saúde, 2019

Objective: to describe the temporal and geographical expansion of Zika virus (ZIKV) circulation in countries and territories, from the time it was first isolated until 2018. Methods: This was a non-systematic literature review covering the period from 1947 to 2018 using the MEDLINE database and World Health Organization estimates. Results: Since its isolation in 1947, ZIKV circulation spread through Africa, Asia and the Pacific before reaching the Americas in 2013, causing serious clinical manifestations; the highest seroprevalence rates were recorded in Yap (74%) and in Brazil (63%); genetic mutations, absence of immunity and high vector susceptibility may have influenced ZIKV transmissibility and help to explain the magnitude of its expansion. Conclusion: The spread of ZIKV circulation in the Americas was the most extensive recorded thus far, possibly as a result of population and geographical characteristics of the sites where the virus circulated.

Low Zika virus seroprevalence among pregnant women in North Central Nigeria, 2016

Journal of clinical virology : the official publication of the Pan American Society for Clinical Virology, 2018

Zika virus (ZIKV) has been known for decades in Africa but contemporary data is lacking at large. To describe the seroepidemiology of ZIKV in North Central Nigeria. We performed a cross-sectional study at six health care facilities in North Central Nigeria from January to December 2016. Detection of ZIKV antibodies was done using an anti-ZIKV recombinant non-structural protein 1 (NS1)-based ELISA. A colorimetric assay to detect ZIKV neutralizing antibodies was used on ELISA reactive and randomly selected ELISA non-reactive samples. ZIKV real-time RT-PCR was done on a subset of samples. A total of 468 individual samples were included with almost 60% from pregnant women. Using NS1-based ELISA, an anti-ZIKV positive rate of 6% for IgM and 4% for IgG was found. Pregnant women showed anti-ZIKV positive rates of 4% for IgM and 3% for IgG. None of the ZIKV antibody positive samples tested ZIKV RT-PCR positive. An association with male sex was found for anti-ZIKV IgG ELISA positivity (preva...

Low seroprevalence of Zika virus in Cameroonian blood donors

The Brazilian journal of infectious diseases : an official publication of the Brazilian Society of Infectious Diseases, 2017

A Zika virus seroepidemiology study was performed in 1084 blood donors collected from August to October 2015 in six sites of Cameroon representing a large panel of eco-environments. Samples were tested using an anti-NS1 IgG ELISA detection kit and positives were further confirmed by seroneutralization. The observed global seroprevalence was low (around 5%, peaking at 10% and 7.7% in Douala and Bertoua, respectively) with risk factors associated with seropositivity pointing to the existence of a local (peri-)sylvatic cycle of transmission. These results call attention to the potential introduction and subsequent spread in African urban areas of Asian genotype Zika virus currently circulating in the Americas and adapted to transmission by peri-domestic mosquitoes. They should leverage reinforced surveillance efforts in Africa.

Zika Virus: A threat to global Public health- WHO Faramework Review

NeuroPharmac Journal

Zika virus is an emerging mosquito-borne virus that was first identified in Uganda in 1947 in rhesus monkeys through a monitoring network of sylvatic yellow fever. Background Zika virus is an emerging viral disease that is transmitted through the bite of an infected mosquito, primarily Aedes aegypti, the same vector that transmits chikungunya, dengue and yellow fever. Zika has a similar epidemiology, clinical presentation and transmission cycle in urban environments as chikungunya and dengue, although it generally causes milder illness. Symptoms of Zika virus disease include fever, skin rash, conjunctivitis, muscle and joint pain, malaise and headache, which normally last for 2 to 7 days. National health authorities have reported an observed increase of Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) and microcephaly. Today the Brazilian national authorities estimate 500,000 to 1,500,000 cases of Zika virus disease. In October 2015, both Colombia and Cape Verde, off the coast of Africa, reported their first outbreaks of the virus. As of 22 January 2016 Colombia had reported 16,419 cases, El Salvador 3,836 cases and Panama 99 cases of Zika virus disease. As of 12 February, a total of 39 countries in multiple regions have reported autochthonous (local) circulation of Zika virus, and there is evidence of local transmission in six additional countries. As per the health authorities India has not reported any case of Zika Virus. Health Authorities in India is taking adequate precaution to keep Zika Virus outside the India.

Zika virus endemic challenges during COVID-19 pandemic in Africa

Tropical Medicine and Health

Zika virus remains endemic and opportunistic of high transmission in the tropical region of Africa, and the repeated cases of the Zika virus in Africa made it public health emergency in 2016. Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, the catastrophic cases of unknown and unreported deaths overwhelming the region of Africa could not give health attention to respond to other endemic diseases. Here, we present the possible complication and challenges associated with the Zika virus in Africa and COVID-19 predominance, shifting the attention from the Zika virus surveillance. This paper determines to enlighten the reader about the situation, the efforts to curb the transmission of both the Zika virus and the COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, the report recommends sustainable solutions that can lessen the threat to public health.