Seroprevalence of Zika virus and Rubella virus IgG among blood donors in Rwanda and in Sweden

Abstract

Seroprevalence studies provide information on the susceptibility to infection of certain populations, including women of childbearing age. Such data from Central Africa are scarce regarding two viruses that cause congenital infections: Zika virus (ZIKV), an emerging mosquito-borne infection, and Rubella virus (RuV), a vaccine-preventable infection. We report on the seroprevalence of both ZIKV and RuV from Rwanda, a country without any known cases of ZIKV, but bordering Uganda where this virus was isolated in 1947. Anti-ZIKV-specific and anti-RuV-specific immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibodies were analyzed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) in serum samples from 874 Rwandan and 215 Swedish blood donors. Samples positive for IgG antibodies against ZIKV were examined for viral RNA using real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR). The seroprevalence of ZIKV IgG in Rwanda was 1.4% (12/874), of which the predominance of positive findings came from the Southeastern region. All anti-ZIKV IgG-positive samples were PCR-negative. Among 297 female blood donors of childbearing age, 295 (99.3%) were seronegative and thus susceptible to ZIKV. All Swedish blood donors were IgG-negative to ZIKV. In contrast, blood donors from both countries showed high seroprevalence of IgG to RuV: 91.2% for Rwandan and 92.1% for Swedish donors. Only 10.5% (31/294) of female donors of childbearing age from Rwanda were seronegative for RuV. In Rwanda, seroprevalence for ZIKV IgG antibodies was low, but high for RuV. Hence, women of childbearing age were susceptible to ZIKV. These data may be of value for decision-making regarding prophylactic measures.

Zika virus seroprevalence in blood donors from the Northeastern region of São Paulo State, Brazil, between 2015 and 2017

“…In Bolivia the ZIKV seroprevalence among blood donors was 39.0% in Beni and 25.1% in Santa Cruz departments, 20 in Suriname it was 35.1% 21 (urban and rural population), in Nicaragua: 36.1%, 45.8% and 56.4% in pediatric, household and adult cohorts 22 respectively, while in Northeast Brazil (63.3%) (total ZIKV seroprevalence for HIV-infected, tuberculosis patients and pregnant women). 23 On the other hand, in other regions of the world the ZIKV seroprevalence among blood donors was lower or similar to our results, examples being Rwanda (1.4%) 24 , Cameroon (5%) 25 and Laos (4.5 −9.9%). 26 The difference in ZIKV seroprevalence can be explained on one Our study demonstrated a significant difference between the obtained ZIKV seroprevalence by ELISA and PRNT tests.…”

Low seroprevalence of Zika virus infection among adults in Southern Taiwan

“…Recently, a number of serosurveys of ZIKV infections have been conducted in Oceania, Africa, Latin America, and the Caribbean. The seroprevalence was high in Micronesia (73%) [23], Brazil (63.3%) [24], Nicaragua (36 – 56%) [25], French Polynesia (49%) [26], Martinique (42.2%) [27], Bolivia (0 – 39%) [28], Suriname (35.1%) [29], French Guiana (18.8%) [30], Saudi Arabia (12.68%) [31], and Nigeria (10%) [32], but was less than 10% in Laos (9.9%) [33], Indonesia (9.1%) [17], Zambia (6.1%) [34], Cameroon (5%) [35], Rwanda (1.4%) [36], and Kenya (0.24 – 7.11%) [37]. However, the laboratory assays used were varied across the studies.…”

Global seroprevalence of Zika virus in asymptomatic individuals: A systematic review

“…Seroprevalence studies were conducted in 49 countries and territories, with a total of 63,864 individuals involved. These studies comprised 18 countries in Africa (including Burkina Faso [ 8 ], Cape Verde [ 9 ], Cameroon [ 10 ], Democratic Republic of the Congo [ 11 ], Ethiopia [ 12 ], Gabon [ 13 ], Ghana [ 14 ], Kenya [ 15 , 16 ], Madagascar [ 17 ], Mali [ 18 , 19 ], Nigeria [ 20 – 24 ], Republic of the Congo [ 25 ], Rwanda [ 26 ], Senegal [ 18 ], Sudan [ 27 ], Tanzania [ 28 ], The Gambia [ 18 ], and Zambia [ 29 , 30 ]); 13 countries in the Americas (Bolivia [ 1 ], Brazil, Colombia, French Guiana (see references in S2 Table ), Guatemala [ 31 ], Honduras [ 32 ], Jamaica [ 33 ], Martinique [ 34 ], Mexico [ 32 , 35 ], Nicaragua (references in S2 Table ), Peru [ 36 ], Puerto Rico [ 32 ], and Suriname [ 37 ]); 3 countries in the Eastern Mediterranean (Iran [ 38 ], Iraq [ 39 ], Saudi Arabia [ 40 ]); 3 countries in Europe (Cyprus [ 41 ], France [ 42 ] and Sweden [ 26 ]); 2 countries in Southeast Asia (Indonesia, Thailand (references in S2 Table ); and 10 countries in the Western Pacific region (China [ 43 – 45 ], Fiji […”