Prevalence and identification of arthropod-transmitted viruses in Kassala state, Eastern Sudan

Abstract

Vector-borne diseases are responsible for more than 20% of the infectious diseases worldwide. The prevalence of arboviruses transmit diseases to humans in Sudan has not been investigated. Mosquito-borne viral diseases increase globally incidence, including the Sudan. Frequent unknown fever outbreaks have been reported in eastern region, Sudan. However, diagnosis was based exclusively on clinical signs and symptoms without confirmatory laboratory investigations. However, for accurate detection of these viruses in outbreaks, molecular technique is considered. The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of six arboviruses in the Kassala state of east Sudan during unknown fever outbreak. A cross sectional hospital-based study was conducted in the Kassala, Teaching Hospital. Blood samples from 119 patients suffering from unknown fever were used for screening of six arboviruses, hepatitis E virus and malarial using molecular techniques and serology. The overall arboviruses seroprevelance was 61.3% (73/119). The highest positivity rate was 73.1% (52/73) chikungunya virus; 29 males and 20 females patients were chikungunya positive. Other arboviruses were circulating in low rate 20.5% (15/73), and 6.8% (5/73) for sindbis and rift valley fever viruses respectively. Hepatitis E virus was negative in all cases and malaria positivity rate 13.4% (16/119). The prevalence of arboviruses among unknown fever patients present to Kassala teaching hospital of eastern region in Sudan is significantly high (61.3%). The chikungunya virus is the predominant causative agent of arboviruses. Molecular techniques such as PCR are important for accurate and rapid diagnosis of this viral outbreak.

Seroprevalence of Yellow fever, Chikungunya, and Zika virus at a community level in the Gambella Region, South West Ethiopia

“…Indeed, most of the positive individuals had reported mosquito bites. Markedly, the seroprevalence of anti-ZIKV IgG found in Gambella was higher than studies conducted elsewhere in Ethiopia in 2018 (0.4%) [19], in Kenya (3.9%) [43], and Zambia (6.1%) [51], but was similar to the seroprevalence reported in Nigeria (31%) [52]. Our study confirms that ZIKV infections have occurred in the study area of Ethiopia.…”

“…Almost all seropositive individuals were engaged in farming activities in the forest area and had reported mosquito bites. The prevalence of anti-CHIKV IgG in our study (seroprevalence 15.6%) is lower than in Sudan, Kassala (73.1%) [43], where only patients suffering from unknown fever were tested. In contrast, Khartoum state in Sudan and Southern Mozambique reported a low seroprevalence of CHIKV IgG antibodies of 2.2% [44] and 4.3% [45], respectively among febrile patients.…”

The Seroprevalence and Hidden Burden of Chikungunya Endemicity and Malaria Mono- and Coinfection in Nigeria

“…Secondary vectors often have relatively little contact with humans and may be less susceptible to residual insecticide spraying or insecticide-impregnated bednets than primary vectors [ 7 ]. There is an increased risk of chikungunya and malaria occurring concurrently and causing malaria and nonmalaria febrile illnesses [ 11 , 12 , 13 ]. Chikungunya and malaria can also coexist in areas where the two vectors are present [ 4 , 8 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 ]; therefore, super- or coinfection is a possibility.…”

Tropism of the Chikungunya Virus

“…The most recent CHIKV outbreak was reported in Sudan, affecting seven states, with a total of 13,978 cases of chikungunya, 95% of which were from the Kassala State [ 10 , 11 ] (see [ 12 ] for a more extensive review on CHIKV epidemics).…”