Leveraging livestock movements to urban slaughterhouses for wide-spread Rift Valley fever virus surveillance in Western Kenya

Gerken, Keli Nicole; Ndenga, Bryson; Owuor, Kevin; Winter, Christabel Achieng; Seetah, Krish; LaBeaud, A. Desirée

doi:10.1016/j.onehlt.2022.100457

Cited by 7 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 23 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…The importance of identifying this potential novel transmission modality of BUNV lies in the potential for education and increased biosafety and infection control practices in at-risk communities, where PPE use is not high [ 60 ]. Recently, it was reported that fomite transmission might contribute to the movement of RVFV from rural areas to urban, as cattle may be moved to satiate the demand for meat in human dense areas [ 61 ]. This risk is shared by BUNV, as this data demonstrates this similarity in risk of environmentally mediated transmission between RVFV and BUNV.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This also suggests a potential use of blood that was collected indirectly or from meat processing facilities. Butchers and slaughterhouses as a point of surveillance may help inform on the epidemiology of an outbreak due to the concentration of animals to a central location [ 61 ]. Furthermore, environmental stability of BUNV in liquid may assist in less conventional surveillance methods for arboviruses, as the potential for wastewater surveillance of other arboviruses has been discussed [ 62 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Exploring the transmission modalities of Bunyamwera virus

Turner,

Christofferson

2024

Exp. Biol. Med.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Bunyamwera virus (BUNV) (Bunyamwera orthobunyavirus) has been found in Sub-Saharan Africa and demonstrated recently as cocirculating with Rift Valley Fever Virus (RVFV). Little is known regarding the breadth of transmission modalities of Bunyamwera. Given its co-occurence with RVFV, we hypothesized the transmission system of BUNV shared similarities to the RVFV system including transmission by Ae. aegypti mosquitoes and environmentally mediated transmission through fomites and environmental contamination. We exposed Ae. aegypti mosquitoes to BUNV and evaluated their ability to transmit both vertically and horizontally. Further, we investigated the potential for a novel transmission modality via environmental contamination. We found that the LSU colony of Ae. aegypti was not competent for the virus for either horizontal or vertical transmission; but, 20% of larva exposed to virus via contaminated aquatic habitat were positive. However, transstadial clearance of the virus was absolute. Finally, under simulated temperature conditions that matched peak transmission in Rwanda, we found that BUNV was stable in both whole blood and serum for up to 28 days at higher total volume in tubes at moderate quantities (103–5 genome copies/mL). In addition, infectiousness of these samples was demonstrated in 80% of the replicates. At lower volume samples (in plates), infectiousness was retained out to 6–8 days with a maximum infectious titer of 104 PFU/mL. Thus, the potential for contamination of the environment and/or transmission via contaminated fomites exists. Our findings have implications for biosafety and infection control, especially in the context of food animal production.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exploring the transmission modalities of Bunyamwera virus

Turner,

Christofferson

2024

Exp. Biol. Med.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The risk of humans to food-borne RVFV through consumption of raw milk or handling of meat has not been adequately studied. A recent study has shown that although infectious RVFV particles were not recovered, RVFV RNA was prevalent in milk during an outbreak in Tanzania (de Glanville et al 2022a, Gerken et al 2022b).…”

Section: Strategic Solutionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The increasing threat of Rift Valley fever virus globalization: strategic guidance for protection and preparation

Gibson,

Noronha,

Tubbs

et al. 2023

Journal of Medical Entomology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Rift Valley fever virus (RVFV) (Bunyavirales: Phlebovirus) is a prominent vector-borne zoonotic disease threat to global agriculture and public health. Risks of introduction into nonendemic regions are tied to changing climate regimes and other dynamic environmental factors that are becoming more prevalent, as well as virus evolutionary factors and human/animal movement. Endemic to the African continent, RVFV has caused large epizootics at the decadal scale since the early 20th century but has spread to the Arabian Peninsula and shows increasing patterns of interepizootic transmission on the annual scale. This virus can be transmitted by mosquitoes as well as through direct contact with infected tissues and can cause sporadic to widespread morbidity and mortality in domestic ungulate livestock as well as humans. High viremias in infected livestock moved for legal and illegal trade as well as in infected mosquitoes or human travelers can spread this virus worldwide. With increasing global commerce, it is likely RVFV will be introduced to new areas with suitable hosts, mosquito vector species, and environments. However, the strong mosquito component of RVFV epidemiology combined with advancements in vaccines, diagnostics, and virus evolutionary factors create opportunities for strategies to leverage models of connectivity among potential source and emerging regions to target surveillance and mitigation activities to reduce the risk of RVFV introduction, or contain the virus should it be introduced, into new regions.

show abstract

“…Our research team has been examining this question in the context of urban Kenya through a series of One Health studies. Our findings to date include documentation of low-level risk in the general community independent of livestock ownership [ 6 ], a qualitative investigation of factors that could influence the introduction and persistence of RVFV in urban settings [ 7 ], and the feasibility of slaughterhouse-based livestock surveillance highlighting movement from markets to be key for determining animal origin [ 8 ]. However, the role of arthropod vectors at urban slaughterhouses or in other places where animals congregate remains undefined.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Expanding Understanding of Urban Rift Valley Fever Risk and Associated Vector Ecology at Slaughterhouses in Kisumu, Kenya

Gerken,

Owuor,

Ndenga

et al. 2024

Pathogens

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Rift Valley fever virus (RVFV) is an adaptable arbovirus that can be transmitted by a wide variety of arthropods. Widespread urban transmission of RVFV has not yet occurred, but peri-urban outbreaks of RVFV have recently been documented in East Africa. We previously reported low-level exposure in urban communities and highlighted the risk of introduction via live animal influx. We deployed a slaughtered animal testing framework in response to an early warning system at two urban slaughterhouses and tested animals entering the meat value chain for anti-RVFV IgG and IgM antibodies. We simultaneously trapped mosquitoes for RVFV and bloodmeal testing. Out of 923 animals tested, an 8.5% IgG seroprevalence was identified but no evidence of recent livestock exposure was detected. Mosquito species abundance varied greatly by slaughterhouse site, which explained 52% of the variance in blood meals. We captured many Culex spp., a known RVFV amplifying vector, at one of the sites (p < 0.001), and this species had the most diverse blood meals. No mosquito pools tested positive for RVFV antigen using a rapid VecTOR test. These results expand understanding of potential RVF urban disease ecology, and highlight that slaughterhouses are key locations for future surveillance, modelling, and monitoring efforts.

show abstract

Leveraging livestock movements to urban slaughterhouses for wide-spread Rift Valley fever virus surveillance in Western Kenya

Cited by 7 publications

References 23 publications

Exploring the transmission modalities of Bunyamwera virus

Exploring the transmission modalities of Bunyamwera virus

The increasing threat of Rift Valley fever virus globalization: strategic guidance for protection and preparation

Expanding Understanding of Urban Rift Valley Fever Risk and Associated Vector Ecology at Slaughterhouses in Kisumu, Kenya

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About