The First Outbreak of Autochthonous Zika Virus in Sabah, Malaysian Borneo

Conclusions Surveillance, risk assessment, and intervention were strengthened throughout Malaysia in response to the 2016 outbreak of ZIKV in neighboring Singapore. The Malaysian Ministry of Health undertook regular surveillance from June 2015 during the South American outbreak, but no ZIKV was detected in 784 samples tested up to August 2016 (https://kpkesihatan.com/2016/08/28/kenyataan-akhbar-kpk-28-ogos-2016-situasi-terkini-virus-zika-di-malaysia/). However, during the peak of the 2016 Singapore ZIKV outbreak from September through December 2016, eight out of 849 samples tested were positive for ZIKV (https://kpkesihatan.com/2016/12/18/kenyataan-akhbar-kpk-18-disember-2016-situasi-terkini-zika-di-malaysia-kes-zika-ke-8/). Except for the cases detected in Sabah, all ZIKV infections identified in Malaysia were directly or epidemiologically linked to the outbreak in Singapore. Therefore, the epidemiology of ZIKV infection in Sabah deserves special attention. Because of a case report of ZIKV infection in a German traveler before the recent worldwide outbreak of ZIKV7 and serological evidence of ZIKV human infection in Sabah and nearby Labuan island more than six decades ago9, the report of three autochthonous cases of ZIKV infection rang an alarm bell that the ZIKV in Sabah might be phylogenetically distinct from the recent worldwide outbreak strains. Phylogenetic analysis of the envelope protein gene confirmed that the ZIKVs circulating in Sabah is different from the rec...
Source: PLOS Currents Outbreaks - Category: Epidemiology Authors: Source Type: research