Abstract
According to the World Health Organization, the entire African continent is at risk of a Zika outbreak. To increase data availability on the epidemiology of Zika virus circulation in Africa, we evaluated the immunity to Zika virus in a selected cohort of subjects from West Africa between 2007 and 2012. Human serum samples were collected in 2007 and in 2011/2012 from a cohort of 2–29-year-old subjects from Mali, Senegal, and The Gambia. A sample that tested positive by Zika virus IgG ELISA and by Zika virus microneutralization test was defined as positive. In 2007, the highest prevalence was 21.9%, found in Senegal among 18–29-year-old subjects. In 2011/2012, the highest prevalence, 22.7%, was found still in Senegal, but in 11–17-year-old subjects. During both study periods, the lowest prevalence was found in Mali, where few positive cases were found only in 18–29-year-old subjects. The Gambia showed an intermediate prevalence. In the three countries, prevalence was strongly associated with increasing age. This study contributes to understanding Zika virus circulation within three different ecological and demographic contexts with scarce or no data currently available. Results showed that Zika virus circulated actively in West Africa between the period 2007 and 2011/2012, but with some geographic specificity.
Highlights
Zika virus (ZIKV) is a Flavivirus transmitted to humans mainly by Aedes mosquitoes that was first isolated in Uganda in 1947 [1,2]
ZIKV gained new attention after its spread in the Pacific and to the Americas [5], and in recent years serological studies were conducted in Africa, documenting the presence of ZIKV antibodies in humans [6,7,8,9]
In 2011/2012, the highest prevalence of all ZIKV positive samples continued to be in Senegal (13.7%, 95%confidence interval (CI) 9.4–19.14), followed by The Gambia
Summary
Zika virus (ZIKV) is a Flavivirus transmitted to humans mainly by Aedes mosquitoes that was first isolated in Uganda in 1947 [1,2]. Serological data suggest that ZIKV transmission has occurred among humans, animals and mosquitoes throughout tropical Africa for more than 70 years; ZIKV epidemics were never reported, and fewer than 20 human infections were recorded [3] between its isolation and the first large epidemic, occurring in Micronesia in 2007 [4]. ZIKV gained new attention after its spread in the Pacific and to the Americas [5], and in recent years serological studies were conducted in Africa, documenting the presence of ZIKV antibodies in humans [6,7,8,9]. Transmission of ZIKV has been reported in Guinea-Bissau (African lineage) and Angola (Asian lineage) [13,14]
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