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Chikungunya Outbreak in the Republic of the Congo, 2019—Epidemiological, Virological and Entomological Findings of a South-North Multidisciplinary Taskforce Investigation

Vairo, Francesco; Aimè Coussoud-Mavoungou, Martin; Ntoumi, Francine; Castilletti, Concetta; Kitembo, Lambert; Haider, Najmul; Carletti, Fabrizio; Colavita, Francesca; Gruber, Cesare; Iannetta, Marco; Messina, Francesco; Lanini, Simone; Ulrich Judicaël, Biez; Giombini, Emanuela; Montaldo, Chiara; Portella, Chantal; Diafouka-Diatela, Steve; Rueca, Martina; Bartolini, Barbara; Mboera, Leonard; Munster, Vincent; Fischer, Robert; Seifert, Stephanie; Muñoz-Fontela, César; Escudero-Pérez, Beatriz; Gomez-Medina, Sergio; Nelson, Emily; Kjia Tungu, Patrick; Nicastri, Emanuele; Puro, Vincenzo; Di Caro, Antonino; Capobianchi, Maria; Mikolo, Jacqueline; Zumla, Alimuddin; Ippolito, Giuseppe

Chikungunya Outbreak in the Republic of the Congo, 2019—Epidemiological, Virological and Entomological Findings of a South-North Multidisciplinary Taskforce Investigation Thumbnail


Authors

Francesco Vairo

Martin Aimè Coussoud-Mavoungou

Francine Ntoumi

Concetta Castilletti

Lambert Kitembo

Fabrizio Carletti

Francesca Colavita

Cesare Gruber

Marco Iannetta

Francesco Messina

Simone Lanini

Biez Ulrich Judicaël

Emanuela Giombini

Chiara Montaldo

Chantal Portella

Steve Diafouka-Diatela

Martina Rueca

Barbara Bartolini

Leonard Mboera

Vincent Munster

Robert Fischer

Stephanie Seifert

César Muñoz-Fontela

Beatriz Escudero-Pérez

Sergio Gomez-Medina

Emily Nelson

Patrick Kjia Tungu

Emanuele Nicastri

Vincenzo Puro

Antonino Di Caro

Maria Capobianchi

Jacqueline Mikolo

Alimuddin Zumla

Giuseppe Ippolito



Abstract

<jats:p>The Republic of Congo (RoC) declared a chikungunya (CHIK) outbreak on 9 February 2019. We conducted a ONE-Human-Animal HEALTH epidemiological, virological and entomological investigation. Methods: We collected national surveillance and epidemiological data. CHIK diagnosis was based on RT-PCR and CHIKV-specific antibodies. Full CHIKV genome sequences were obtained by Sanger and MinION approaches and Bayesian tree phylogenetic analysis was performed. Mosquito larvae and 215 adult mosquitoes were collected in different villages of Kouilou and Pointe-Noire districts and estimates of Aedes (Ae.) mosquitos’ CHIKV-infectious bites obtained. We found two new CHIKV sequences of the East/Central/South African (ECSA) lineage, clustering with the recent enzootic sub-clade 2, showing the A226V mutation. The RoC 2019 CHIKV strain has two novel mutations, E2-T126M and E2-H351N. Phylogenetic suggests a common origin from 2016 Angola strain, from which it diverged around 1989 (95% HPD 1985–1994). The infectious bite pattern was similar for 2017, 2018 and early 2019. One Ae. albopictus pool was RT-PCR positive. The 2019 RoC CHIKV strain seems to be recently introduced or be endemic in sylvatic cycle. Distinct from the contemporary Indian CHIKV isolates and in contrast to the original Central-African strains (transmitted by Ae. aegypti), it carries the A226V mutation, indicating an independent adaptive mutation in response to vector replacement (Ae. albopictus vs Ae. aegypti).</jats:p>

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Sep 10, 2020
Publication Date Sep 13, 2020
Publicly Available Date May 30, 2023
Journal Viruses
Publisher MDPI
Pages 1020 - 1020
DOI https://doi.org/10.3390/v12091020
Keywords chikungunya; Republic of Congo; outbreak; Aedes spp; mosquito; arbovirus; ONE-HEALTH
Publisher URL https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4915/12/9/1020

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