Zika Virus in Gabon (Central Africa) – 2007: A New Threat from Aedes albopictus?

By G. Grard, M. Caron, I. Mombo, D. Nkoghé, Statiana Mboui Ondo, Davy Jiolle, D. Fontenille, C. Paupy, E. Leroy. PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, 2014

690 citations recorded by the source corpus.

Background Chikungunya and dengue viruses emerged in Gabon in 2007, with large outbreaks primarily affecting the capital Libreville and several northern towns. Both viruses subsequently spread to the south-east of the country, with new outbreaks occurring in 2010. The mosquito species Aedes albopictus, that was known as a secondary vector for both viruses, recently invaded the country and was the primary vector involved in the Gabonese outbreaks. We conducted a retrospective study of human sera and mosquitoes collected in Gabon from 2007 to 2010, in order to identify other circulating arboviruses. Methodology/Principal Findings Sample collections, including 4312 sera from patients presenting with painful febrile disease, and 4665 mosquitoes belonging to 9 species, split into 247 pools (including 137 pools of Aedes albopictus), were screened with molecular biology methods. Five human sera and two Aedes albopictus pools, all sampled in an urban setting during the 2007 outbreak, were positive for the flavivirus Zika (ZIKV). The ratio of Aedes albopictus pools positive for ZIKV was similar to that positive for dengue virus during the concomitant dengue outbreak suggesting similar mosquito infection rates and, presumably, underlying a human ZIKV outbreak. ZIKV sequences from the envelope and NS3 genes were amplified from a human serum sample. Phylogenetic analysis placed the Gabonese ZIKV at a basal position in the African lineage, pointing to ancestral genetic diversification and spread. Conclusions/Significance We provide the first direct evidence of human ZIKV infections in Gabon, and its first occurrence in the Asian tiger mosquito, Aedes albopictus. These data reveal an unusual natural life cycle for this virus, occurring in an urban environment, and potentially representing a new emerging threat due to this novel association with a highly invasive vector whose geographic range is still expanding across the globe.

Subfields: Immunology, Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health, Sociology and Political Science

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/4b9e6baf6b364898aa5f58386d18d295d21d0fd2

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Citations in the corpus

Biology of Zika Virus Infection in Human Skin Cells (2015, background): “albopictus (62), a rapidly expanding Aedes species that lives in close contact with human urban populations (63, 64) and that typically feeds not only at dusk and dawn but also in the daytime.”
Zika virus infection complicated by Guillain-Barre syndrome--case report, French Polynesia, December 2013. (2014, background): “, other reports have suggested that the rapid worldwide expansion of this vector could be responsible for the emergence of new ZIKA infection epidemics, including in urban areas [15,16].”
Zika virus: History, emergence, biology, and prospects for control. (2016, background): “In 2007 in Gabon, urban ZIKV transmission was associated with A. albopictus (Grard et al., 2014).”
Rapid spread of emerging Zika virus in the Pacific area. (2014, background): “ZIKV is transmitted by the bite of infected mosquitoes, and has been isolated from several Aedes mosquito species [7], notably Aedes aegypti, which is widespread in the tropics and subtropics, and Aedes albopictus, which is established in many parts of Europe, especially in Mediterranean countries.”
Potential for Zika virus transmission through blood transfusion demonstrated during an outbreak in French Polynesia, November 2013 to February 2014. (2014, neutral): “albopictus [10].”
Current Zika virus epidemiology and recent epidemics. (2014, background): “Asymptomatic presentations are frequent [3,9] but IKV infection can cause a broad range of clinical symptoms, resenting as a “dengue-like” syndrome.”