There is no data available on the ABO/Rh(D) frequencies in the Mauritanian population. We retrospectively analysed records of a 5-year database that contained ABO/Rh phenotype and ethnic origin of 10 116 volunteers giving blood at the national blood transfusion centre to derive the frequencies of ABO/Rh(D) groups in the Mauritanian population. The two race categories in the country and their sub-ethnic groups: the Moors (whites and black) and the black Africans (Pulhars, Soninkes and Wolof) were included in this study. Globally, group O had the highest frequency (49.10%) followed by A (28.28%), B (18.56%) and AB (4.05%). This order more common in North African populations was found in four of the five ethnic groups composing our population. Allele frequencies were, respectively, 70.20%, 17.74% and 12.04% giving the same order of O > A > B. We observed no significant variation in these frequencies between the different ethnic groups. Rhesus study showed that with a percentage of 94.23% Rh(D) positive is by far the most prevalent, while Rh(D) negative is present only in 5.77% of the total population. This frequency distribution supports the mixed-race composition of the Mauritanian population.

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A COVID-19 outbreak is currently ongoing in Mauritania. Until July 1, 2020, Mauritania health authorities reported 41,862 serological and RT-qPCR tests performed, of which 4,472 (10.7%) were positive for SARS-Cov-2. Males were significantly more affected (57.1%) than females (42.9%). Individuals of the age groups 15–34 (35.8%) and 35–54 (36.6%) years were the most affected. There were 129 (2.9%) deaths, 1,677 (37.5%) recoveries and 2,666 (59.6%) active cases of whom 2,261 (84.8%) were asymptomatic, 394 (14.7%) with mild symptoms and 11 (0.4%) severe cases. A large proportion of fatalities (72%; 85/118) occurred among adults aged ≥ 55 years. Of 4,472 positive cases, 4,241 (94.8%) were infected through contact with a confirmed COVID-19 case, 133 (3.0%) had no contact with confirmed COVID-19 case, and 98 (2.2%) were imported. As a riposte against COVID-19, the Mauritanian authorities announced a set of preventive measures, including closure of land and air borders, nocturne curfew, closure of markets, schools, and universities, and restriction of movement between cities. Control measures include the systematic testing of symptomatic patients, isolation and management of active cases, contact tracing, and quarantine of people who have been in contact with a COVID-19-positive individual. We discuss the efforts of the Mauritanian government to combat this potentially life-threatening pneumonia.

C rimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever (CCHF) occurs in Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia (1). The virus is transmitted to humans through tick bites or direct contact with blood, secretions, or infected tissue of a viremic animal or person. The incubation period in humans is usually ≈5-6 days and hemorrhaging often occurs on the fourth or fifth day after onset of illness; ≈30% of human case-patients die. In Mauritania, CCHF was first documented in 1983 (2). Although several cases have been reported since, its current distribution is not well known. We report 2 cases of CCHF in 2019 in southern Mauritania. The first patient, a 51-year-old man, a cattle breeder who resided in Tintane, Hodh Elgharbi, was admitted to Kiffa Regional Hospital, Assaba, Mauritania, on June 17, 2019, for hemorrhagic syndrome. The patient began having symptoms, including abdominal pain, bloody diarrhea, and vomiting, 5 days prior. At admission, the patient was in a coma (Glasgow coma scale 8) and had a fever (temperature 41°C), epistaxis, gingivorrhagia, diffuse ecchymosis (Figure 1), pallor, rapid respiratory rate (20 breaths/min), and hypotension (60/40 mm Hg). Laboratory examinations showed severe anemia (3.5 mmol/L); leucocytosis (1.3 × 10 9 cells/L); severe thrombocytopenia (20 × 10 9 /L); prolonged prothrombin time (61%); and elevated urea (35 mmol/L), creatinine (2,298 µmol/L

BackgroundPrimaquine is recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) for radical treatment of Plasmodium vivax malaria. This drug is known to provoke acute hemolytic anemia in individuals with glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) deficiency. Due to lack of data on G6PD deficiency, the use of primaquine has been limited in Africa. In the present study, G6PD deficiency was investigated in blood donors of various ethnic groups living in Nouakchott, a P. vivax endemic area in Mauritania.Methodology/Principal findingsVenous blood samples from 443 healthy blood donors recruited at the National Transfusion Center in Nouakchott were screened for G6PD activity using the CareStart G6PD deficiency rapid diagnostic test. G6PD allelic variants were investigated using DiaPlexC G6PD genotyping kit that detects African (A-) and Mediterranean (B-) variants. Overall, 50 of 443 (11.3%) individuals (49 [11.8%] men and 1 [3.7%] woman) were phenotypically deficient. Amongst men, Black Africans had the highest prevalence of G6PD deficiency (15 of 100 [15%]) and White Moors the lowest (10 of 168, [5.9%]). The most commonly observed G6PD allelic variants among 44 tested G6PD-deficient men were the African variant A- (202A/376G) in 14 (31.8%), the Mediterranean variant B- (563T) in 13 (29.5%), and the Betica-Selma A- (376G/968C) allelic variant in 6 (13.6%). The Santamaria A- variant (376G/542T) and A variant (376G) were observed in only one and two individuals, respectively. None of the expected variants was observed in 8 (18.2%) of the tested phenotypically G6PD-deficient men.ConclusionThis is the first published data on G6PD deficiency in Mauritanians. The prevalence of phenotypic G6PD deficiency was relatively high (11.3%). It was mostly associated with either African or Mediterranean variants, in agreement with diverse Arab and Black African origins of the Mauritanian population.