Increased risk of chikungunya infection in travellers to Thailand during ongoing outbreak in tourist areas: cases imported to Europe and the Middle East, early 2019

Javelle, Émilie; Florescu, Simin-Aysel; Ásgeirsson, Hilmir; Jmor, Shilan; Epéron, Gilles; Leshem, Eyal; Blum, Johannes; Molina, Israel; Field, Vanessa; Pietroski, Nancy; Eldin, Carole; Johnston, Victoria; Cotar, Ani Ioana; Popescu, Corneliu Petru; Hamer, Davidson H.; Gautret, Philippe

doi:10.2807/1560-7917.es.2019.24.10.1900146

Cited by 24 publications

(24 citation statements)

References 15 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…The year 2019 in particular brought an enhanced risk for CHIKV importation due to outbreaks reaching touristic places in Brazil, Thailand, India and Malaysia as notified by the ECDC and the Geo-Sentinel surveillance network [24,25]. Likewise, the Republic of Maldives is one of the most visited countries in the world with a constant growth in numbers of tourists [26].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Chikungunya resurgence in the Maldives and risk for importation via tourists to Europe in 2019–2020: A GeoSentinel case series

Dudouet

Larsen

Díaz‐Menéndez

et al. 2020

Travel Medicine and Infectious Disease

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background: Chikungunya virus (CHIKV) is an arthropod-borne virus mainly transmitted in tropical areas by Aedes spp. mosquitoes. It has been responsible for small-to-large outbreaks in temperate areas including southern Europe and North America. Past outbreaks in 2006 on the islands of Maldives, as well as on other islands in the Indian Ocean and in Southeast Asia, demonstrated for the first time the capacity of CHIKV to disseminate through travel and transcontinental commerce, and revealed the major socioeconomic impact of CHIKV epidemics. Recently, CHIKV has been circulating in highly touristic areas including the Maldives, where 1736 cases were notified by the Health Protection Agency during 2019. Case series: Among EuroTravNet/GeoSentinel patient records, eight CHIKV-confirmed cases imported the Maldives to France, Germany, Denmark, Italy and Spain were identified between February 2019 and February 2020; exceeding the total number of CHIKV infections travel-acquired in Maldives reported to this surveillance network during the previous 10 years. Conclusions: The prevention and control of CHIKV introduction into naïve areas colonised by competent vectors is crucial. CHIKV outbreaks must be detected and reported in a timely manner. This must lead to adapted health information for international travellers and to prompt management of suspected imported cases. Conversely, travellers make for excellent sentinels and increased reports of imported cases might reflect a change in the level of endemicity or even herald an outbreak. Feedback to the local health authorities and matching this with local epidemiological surveillance data may lead to health benefits for the local population.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Chikungunya resurgence in the Maldives and risk for importation via tourists to Europe in 2019–2020: A GeoSentinel case series

Dudouet

Larsen

Díaz‐Menéndez

et al. 2020

Travel Medicine and Infectious Disease

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…According to the Thai Ministry of Public Health, CHIKV is currently circulating in Thailand with an increasing incidence: as at 30 October 2019, the country has reported 8,744 cases this year [18]. Coincidentally, GeoSentinel recently documented a rise in the number of travelassociated CHIKV infections from Thailand [19]. Without further epidemiological and phylogenetic evidence, it remains difficult to establish whether any links exist between cases in Thailand and those in Myanmar.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Travel-associated chikungunya acquired in Myanmar in 2019

et al. 2020

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Eighteen cases of chikungunya virus infection in travellers returning from Myanmar were reported to the GeoSentinel Surveillance Network, its subnetwork EuroTravNet and TropNet in 2019, reflecting an ongoing local outbreak. This report reinforces the importance of travellers as sentinels of emerging arboviral outbreaks and highlights the importance of vigilance for imported cases, due to the potential for dissemination of the virus into areas with competent local vectors and conducive environmental conditions.

show abstract

“…In the last 3 months of 2018, Thailand reported 3,314 probable and confirmed cases and in 2019, as at 27 May 2019, 3,592 CHIKV cases were reported in 23 provinces [4]. Cases of CHIKV infection imported from Thailand into Europe and the Middle East were reported in early 2019 [5,6].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Specialist laboratory networks as preparedness and response tool - the Emerging Viral Diseases-Expert Laboratory Network and the Chikungunya outbreak, Thailand, 2019

et al. 2020

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

We illustrate the potential for specialist laboratory networks to be used as preparedness and response tool through rapid collection and sharing of data. Here, the Emerging Viral Diseases-Expert Laboratory Network (EVD-LabNet) and a laboratory assessment of chikungunya virus (CHIKV) in returning European travellers related to an ongoing outbreak in Thailand was used for this purpose. EVD-LabNet rapidly collected data on laboratory requests, diagnosed CHIKV imported cases and sequences generated, and shared among its members and with the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control. Data across the network showed an increase in CHIKV imported cases during 1 October 2018–30 April 2019 vs the same period in 2018 (172 vs 50), particularly an increase in cases known to be related to travel to Thailand (72 vs 1). Moreover, EVD-LabNet showed that strains were imported from Thailand that cluster with strains of the ECSA-IOL E1 A226 variant emerging in Pakistan in 2016 and involved in the 2017 outbreaks in Italy. CHIKV diagnostic requests increased by 23.6% between the two periods. The impact of using EVD-LabNet or similar networks as preparedness and response tool could be improved by standardisation of the collection, quality and mining of data in routine laboratory management systems.

show abstract

Increased risk of chikungunya infection in travellers to Thailand during ongoing outbreak in tourist areas: cases imported to Europe and the Middle East, early 2019

Cited by 24 publications

References 15 publications

Chikungunya resurgence in the Maldives and risk for importation via tourists to Europe in 2019–2020: A GeoSentinel case series

Chikungunya resurgence in the Maldives and risk for importation via tourists to Europe in 2019–2020: A GeoSentinel case series

Travel-associated chikungunya acquired in Myanmar in 2019

Specialist laboratory networks as preparedness and response tool - the Emerging Viral Diseases-Expert Laboratory Network and the Chikungunya outbreak, Thailand, 2019

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About