Surveillance for Common Arboviruses in Whole Blood of Malaria-Free Ill Returned Canadian Travelers to the Americas

AbstractPurpose of ReviewThe Zika virus outbreak in the Americas prompted enhanced global surveillance due to the recognition of adverse neurological outcomes, including Guillain-Barr é Syndrome, a novel but devastating congenital syndrome. Symptomatic Zika virus infection is clinically indistinguishable from other arboviral infections of the Americas such as chikungunya, dengue, and the more recently emerging Mayaro virus.Recent FindingsWe conducted laboratory surveillance for such arboviruses in ill returned travelers to the Americas between November 2015 and May 2016 by examining whole blood, malaria-negative specimens with noted travel history to the Americas by real-time and end-point PCR for the following targets: chikungunya (CHIKV), flaviviruses (Pan-Flavi), dengue virus types 1 –4 (DEN1, DEN2, DEN3, DEN4), and Zika virus (ZIKV). End-point PCR was performed to detect Mayaro virus (MAYV).1294 malaria-negative specimens were evaluated for compatible travel history. Of 224 enrolled specimens, 124 (55%) were from returned travelers to the Caribbean, while 66 (29.5%) were from Central America, and 34 (15.2%) from South America. Arboviral pathogens detected included: dengue (n = 3, 1.3%), Zika virus (n = 2, 0.9%), and unspecified flavivirus (n = 2, 0.9%). No cases of chikungunya or Mayaro were detected in the cohort.SummaryCommon arboviruses circulating in the Americas were detected in over 3% of whole-blood malaria-free specimens from ill returned travelers,...
Source: Current Infectious Disease Reports - Category: Infectious Diseases Source Type: research