Autor(es): Cao-Lormeau V.-M., Roche C., Teissier A., Nilles E.J., Musso D.

Resumo: During more than a century dengue has been the only mosquito-borne virus considered as major public health concern for Pacific nations. However, during the past 5 years the epidemiology of arboviruses in the Pacific region has shown terrific changes. The situation gradually switched from the predominant circulation of a single dengue virus (DENV) to active transmission of multiple DENV serotypes and genotypes as observed in French Polynesia from 2013 and in New Caledonia and Fiji since the beginning of 2014. In the mean time, Chikungunya virus (CHIKV) appeared for the first time in New Caledonia with autochtonous cases sporadically reported from 2011 up to 2013, and large outbreaks occurring in Papua New Guinea in 2012, Yap Island in 2013 and in Tonga in 2014. Another unexpected event was the emergence of Zika virus (ZIKV) in French Polynesia at the end of 2013. ZIKV caused in French Polynesia the largest outbreak ever documented, and in a context of active circulation of DENV serotypes 1 and 3. At the beginning of 2014, ZIKV outbreaks also emerged in New Caledonia and Cook Islands. As of April 2014, outbreaks of “dengue-like illnesses” were under investigation in several other Pacific islands suggesting that the situation was evolving from bad to worse. We will describe here the early laboratory investigations that contributed to the identification of the aetiological agents of the outbreaks that recently occurred in the Pacific, notably based on the use of filter paper-spotted serum and saliva collected on cotton swab as a source of viral RNA. Based on phylogenetic data we will discuss how these viruses were introduced from continental regions into the Pacific and how they spread from one Pacific island country to another. We will also discuss the particular features of these outbreaks, notably in the occurrence of unusual clinical manifestations, like observed in French Polynesia during the ZIKV outbreak.

Palavras-Chave: chikungunya, dengue, hygiene, society, tropical medicine

Imprenta: American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, v. 91, n. 5, supl. 1, p. 588, nov. 2014

Descritores: Zika virus - Arbovirus ; Zika virus - Flaviviridae ; Zika virus - RNA ; Zika virus - RNA virus ; Zika virus - Transmission ; Zika virus - Epidemiology ; Zika virus - Public health

Data de publicação: 2014

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