Viral infections in travellers from tropical Africa.

Woodruff, A.W.; Bowen, E. T. W.; Platt, G.S.

doi:10.1136/bmj.1.6118.956

Cited by 51 publications

(22 citation statements)

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“…One such epidemic began in 1959 in Uganda, lasted three years and affected over 2 million people [1]. Serological evidence of ONNV transmission indicated circulation in Kenya until the late 1960s [2], additional serological surveys in 1974–1975 showed circulation in West Africa [3], but ONNV did not cause another epidemic until 1996, when 400 people were sickened in the Rakai district in southern Uganda [4]. The known distribution of ONNV mirrors that of the mosquito vectors that transmit the virus, Anopheles gambiae and Anopheles funestus [5].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

O'nyong nyong Virus Molecular Determinants of Unique Vector Specificity Reside in Non-Structural Protein 3

et al. 2013

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O'nyong nyong virus (ONNV) and Chikungunya virus (CHIKV) are two closely related alphaviruses with very different infection patterns in the mosquito, Anopheles gambiae. ONNV is the only alphavirus transmitted by anopheline mosquitoes, but specific molecular determinants of infection of this unique vector specificity remain unidentified. Fifteen distinct chimeric viruses were constructed to evaluate both structural and non-structural regions of the genome and infection patterns were determined through artificial infectious feeds in An. gambiae with each of these chimeras. Only one region, non-structural protein 3 (nsP3), was sufficient to up-regulate infection to rates similar to those seen with parental ONNV. When ONNV non-structural protein 3 (nsP3) replaced nsP3 from CHIKV virus in one of the chimeric viruses, infection rates in An. gambiae went from 0% to 63.5%. No other single gene or viral region addition was able to restore infection rates. Thus, we have shown that a non-structural genome element involved in viral replication is a major element involved in ONNV's unique vector specificity.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

O'nyong nyong Virus Molecular Determinants of Unique Vector Specificity Reside in Non-Structural Protein 3

et al. 2013

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“…During summer 2007 Italy has experienced the first large outbreak caused by Chikungunya virus (CHIKV) documented in a temperate climate country [1]. CHIKV is an arthropod-borne virus which can be transmitted to humans by Aedes mosquitoes [2], widespread in some tropical regions [3][4][5][6][7][8]. Aedes albopictus is highly competent for CHIKV [9,10].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Transmission Potential of Chikungunya Virus and Control Measures: The Case of Italy

et al. 2011

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During summer 2007 Italy has experienced an epidemic caused by Chikungunya virus – the first large outbreak documented in a temperate climate country – with approximately 161 laboratory confirmed cases concentrated in two bordering villages in North–Eastern Italy comprising 3,968 inhabitants. The seroprevalence was recently estimated to be 10.2%. In this work we provide estimates of the transmission potential of the virus and we assess the efficacy of the measures undertaken by public health authorities to control the epidemic spread. To such aim, we developed a model describing the temporal dynamics of the competent vector, known as Aedes albopictus, explicitly depending on climatic factors, coupled to an epidemic transmission model describing the spread of the epidemic in both humans and mosquitoes. The cumulative number of notified cases predicted by the model was 185 on average (95% CI 117–278), in good agreement with observed data. The probability of observing a major outbreak after the introduction of an infective human case was estimated to be in the range of 32%–76%. We found that the basic reproduction number was in the range of 1.8–6 but it could have been even larger, depending on the density of mosquitoes, which in turn depends on seasonal meteorological effects, besides other local abiotic factors. These results confirm the increasing risk of tropical vector–borne diseases in temperate climate countries, as a consequence of globalization. However, our results show that an epidemic can be controlled by performing a timely intervention, even if the transmission potential of Chikungunya virus is sensibly high.

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“…Virus isolations from human and animal sera as well as from Anopheles funestus and A. gambiae have been reported in East Africa ( 7 , 8 ). Human and animal infections based on serologic evidence have also been reported in Nigeria, Ghana, and Sierra Leone ( 9 , 10 ). ONNV was also isolated from sentinel mice in Senegal and caused an outbreak in Côte d'Ivoire in the 1980s ( 11 ).…”

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confidence: 99%