Investigation of a local dengue fever outbreak associated with serotype 1 virus in Fuzhou, 2017

Abstract

Objective To elucidate the epidemiological and etiological features of a local outbreak of dengue fever (DF) in Taijiang district in Fuzhou, Fujian province in 2017, and speculate possible viral source based on phylogenetic analysis. Methods The clinical and demographic data of cases were collected through field investigation and the outbreak was characterized epidemiologically by descriptive method. The patient′s serum were collected and the adult mosquitoes were captured by anti-mosquito double-net method for the laboratorial test and viral isolation. The viral isolates were typed by real-time fluorescent RT-PCR and their full length of viral envelope (E) genes were amplified by RT-PCR and sequenced. The E gene sequences obtained in this study, together with the reference sequences, were used for the phylogenetic analysis. Results A total of 13 cases of autochthonous DF were confirmed in the outbreak. All cases presented obvious clinical manifestations and clustered spatially and temporally. The Breteau Index (BI) of mosquito larva density was the highest in epidemic foci of Xingang street and was relatively low in surrounding areas. Four DENV-1 strains, three from patients and one from the captured adult Aedes albopictus, were isolated and identified by real-time RT-PCR. Full length E gene sequences of the four isolates were completely identical and phylogenetic analysis showed that the isolates were genetically closest to the strain (GenBank No. KT825033) from Vietnam in 2014, rather than the DENV-1 strains found in Fujian previously. Conclusions The DF outbreak occurred in Fuzhou in 2017 was caused by DENV-1 which was imported possibly from somewhere outside of Fujian province and subsequently led to local DF transmission in human via the mosquito Aedes albopictus. Key words: Dengue fever; Aedes albopictus; Epidemiology; Phylogenetic analysis