Vectors of Chikungunya virus in Senegal: current data and transmission cycles. (1/380)

Chikungunya fever is a viral disease transmitted to human beings by Aedes genus mosquitoes. From 1972 to 1986 in Kedougou, Senegal, 178 Chikungunya virus strains were isolated from gallery forest mosquitoes, with most of them isolated from Ae. furcifer-taylori (129 strains), Ae. luteocephalus (27 strains), and Ae. dalzieli (12 strains). The characteristics of the sylvatic transmission cycle are a circulation periodicity with silent intervals that last approximately three years. Few epidemics of this disease have been reported in Senegal. The most recent one occurred in 1996 in Kaffrine where two Chikungunya virus strains were isolated from Ae. aegypti. The retrospective analysis of viral isolates from mosquitoes, wild vertebrates, and humans allowed to us to characterize Chikungunya virus transmission cycles in Senegal and to compare them with those of yellow fever virus.  (+info)

Comparison of PanBio dengue duo enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and MRL dengue fever virus immunoglobulin M capture ELISA for diagnosis of dengue virus infections in Southeast Asia. (2/380)

The performances of the MRL dengue fever virus immunoglobulin M (IgM) capture enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and the PanBio Dengue Duo IgM capture and IgG capture ELISA were compared. Eighty sera from patients with dengue virus infections, 24 sera from patients with Japanese encephalitis (JE), and 78 sera from patients with nonflavivirus infections, such as malaria, typhoid, leptospirosis, and scrub typhus, were used. The MRL test showed superior sensitivity for dengue virus infections (94 versus 89%), while the PanBio test showed superior specificity for JE (79 versus 25%) and other infections (100 versus 91%). The PanBio ELISA showed better overall performance, as assessed by the sum of sensitivity and specificity (F value). When dengue virus and nonflavivirus infections were compared, F values of 189 and 185 were obtained for the PanBio and MRL tests, respectively, while when dengue virus infections and JE were compared, F values of 168 and 119 were obtained. The results obtained with individual sera in the PanBio and MRL IgM ELISAs showed good correlation, but this analysis revealed that the cutoff value of the MRL test was set well below that of the PanBio test. Comparing the sensitivity and specificity of the tests at different cutoff values (receiver-operator analysis) revealed that the MRL and PanBio IgM ELISAs performed similarly in distinguishing dengue virus from nonflavivirus infections, although the PanBio IgM ELISA showed significantly better distinction between dengue virus infections and JE. The implications of these findings for the laboratory diagnosis of dengue are discussed.  (+info)

Re-emergence of Chikungunya and O'nyong-nyong viruses: evidence for distinct geographical lineages and distant evolutionary relationships. (3/380)

Chikungunya (CHIK) virus is a member of the genus Alphavirus in the family TOGAVIRIDAE: Serologically, it is most closely related to o'nyong-nyong (ONN) virus and is a member of the Semliki Forest antigenic complex. CHIK virus is believed to be enzootic throughout much of Africa and historical evidence indicates that it spread to other parts of the world from this origin. Strains from Africa and Asia are reported to differ biologically, indicating that distinct lineages may exist. To examine the relatedness of CHIK and ONN viruses using genetic data, we conducted phylogenetic studies on isolates obtained throughout Africa and Southeast Asia. Analyses revealed that ONN virus is indeed distinct from CHIK viruses, and these viruses probably diverged thousands of years ago. Two distinct CHIK virus lineages were delineated, one containing all isolates from western Africa and the second comprising all southern and East African strains, as well as isolates from Asia. Phylogenetic trees corroborated historical evidence that CHIK virus originated in Africa and subsequently was introduced into Asia. Within the eastern Africa and southern Africa/Asia lineage, Asian strains grouped together in a genotype distinct from the African groups. These different geographical genotypes exhibit differences in their transmission cycles: in Asia, the virus appears to be maintained in an urban cycle with Aedes aegypti mosquito vectors, while CHIK virus transmission in Africa involves a sylvatic cycle, primarily with AE: furcifer and AE: africanus mosquitoes.  (+info)

Phase II safety and immunogenicity study of live chikungunya virus vaccine TSI-GSD-218. (4/380)

We conducted a phase II, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, safety and immunogenicity study of a serially passaged, plaque-purified live chikungunya (CHIK) vaccine in 73 healthy adult volunteers. Fifty-nine volunteers were immunized one time subcutaneously with the CHIK vaccine and 14 were immunized with placebo (tissue culture fluid). Vaccinees were clinically evaluated intensively for one month, and had repeated blood draws for serological assays (50% plaque-reduction neutralization test) for one year. Except for transient arthralgia in five CHIK vaccinees, the number and severity of local and systemic reactions and abnormal laboratory tests after immunization were similar in CHIK vaccinees and placebo recipients. Fifty-seven (98%) of 58 evaluable CHIK vaccinees developed CHIK neutralizing antibody by day 28, and 85% of vaccinees remained seropositive at one year after immunization. No placebo recipients seroconverted. This promising live vaccine was safe, produced well-tolerated side effects, and was highly immunogenic.  (+info)

Complete nucleotide sequence of chikungunya virus and evidence for an internal polyadenylation site. (5/380)

In this study, the complete genomic sequence of chikungunya virus (CHIK; S27 African prototype) was determined and the presence of an internal polyadenylation [I-poly(A)] site was confirmed within the 3' non-translated region (NTR) of this strain. The complete genome was 11805 nucleotides in length, excluding the 5' cap nucleotide, an I-poly(A) tract and the 3' poly(A) tail. It comprised two long open reading frames that encoded the non-structural (2474 amino acids) and structural polyproteins (1244 amino acids). The genetic location of the non-structural and structural proteins was predicted by comparing the deduced amino acid sequences with the known cleavage sites of other alphaviruses, located at the C-terminal region of their virus-encoded proteins. In addition, predicted secondary structures were identified within the 5' NTR and repeated sequence elements (RSEs) within the 3' NTR. Amino acid sequence homologies, phylogenetic analysis of non-structural and structural proteins and characteristic RSEs revealed that although CHIK is closely related to o'nyong-nyong virus, it is in fact a distinct virus. The existence of I-poly(A) fragments with different lengths (e.g. 19, 36, 43, 91, 94 and 106 adenine nucleotides) at identical initiation positions for each clone strongly suggests that the polymerase of the alphaviruses has a capacity to create poly(A) by a template-dependant mechanism such as 'polymerase slippage', as has been reported for vesicular stomatitis virus.  (+info)

Effect of temperature stress on immature stages and susceptibility of Aedes aegypti mosquitoes to chikungunya virus. (6/380)

A high temperature stress of 44.5 degrees C for 10 minutes on the larval stages was found to affect the susceptibility of adult Aedes aegypti mosquitoes to chikungunya virus. At this temperature, the mortality of the mosquito larvae was found to be approximately 95%, whereas a temperature greater than 45 degrees C for 10 minutes was found to be lethal. A temperature tolerant (TT) strain was developed by exposing the larvae to a temperature of 44.5 degrees C for 10 minutes at every generation for five generations. This strain was established to determine whether increase in the susceptibility was due to any selection pressure of higher temperature or to the influence of other intrinsic factors such as expression of immunoresponsive (IR) genes. Other studies on these mosquito strains showed that when maintained at 28 +/- 1 degrees C, there was no difference in the larval duration and mortality in the immature stages, but the mean survival of female mosquitoes in the TT strain was 5-6 days longer. Conversely, when mosquitoes were maintained throughout at 37 degrees C the mean survival of the mosquitoes decreased drastically in both strains, but the mean survival of females in the TT strain was 5-6 days longer compared with the unstressed controls. This increases the probability of at least one more blood meal. Fecundity of the TT strain was found to be lower than that of the control mosquitoes. Data suggest that expression of certain IR genes was affected by the heat shock. Some of these genes were up-regulated and down-regulated, which may have affected the susceptibility of mosquitoes to the virus. Although there was some selection in the temperature-tolerant individuals in the TT strain, when stressed by heat they showed expression of IR genes in a pattern similar to that in the normal controls. It appears that an increase in temperature above the average temperature of an area might help increase the proportion of virus-susceptible mosquitoes in the population. Such an increase in temperature in an endemic area would not only enhance the selection of temperature-tolerant individuals in a population having more longevity, but would also affect both intrinsic and extrinsic factors by reducing the extrinsic incubation period and increasing susceptibility of mosquitoes to viruses due to affected expression of IR genes.  (+info)

Differential infectivities of o'nyong-nyong and chikungunya virus isolates in Anopheles gambiae and Aedes aegypti mosquitoes. (7/380)

O'nyong-nyong virus (ONNV) and chikungunya virus (CHIKV) are closely related alphaviruses that cause human disease in Africa and Asia. Like most alphaviruses, CHIKV is vectored by culicine mosquitoes. ONNV is considered unusual as it primarily infects anopheline mosquitoes; however, there are relatively few experimental data to support this. In this study, three strains of ONNV and one strain of CHIKV were evaluated in Anopheles gambiae and Aedes aegypti mosquitoes and in four cell lines. As predicted, CHIKV was not infectious to An. gambiae, and we observed strain-variability for ONNV with respect to the ability of the virus to infect An. gambiae and Ae. aegypti. The species specificity in vivo was reflected by in vitro experiments using culicine and anopheline-derived cell lines.  (+info)

Determinants of vector specificity of o'nyong nyong and chikungunya viruses in Anopheles and Aedes mosquitoes. (8/380)

The alphaviruses o'nyong nyong virus (ONNV) and chikungunya virus (CHIKV) provide a unique system to study the viral genes involved in vector specificity. ONNV infects both anopheline and culicine mosquitoes, whereas CHIKV infects only culicine mosquitoes. In this study, chimeric viruses were constructed that contained genes from both ONNV and CHIKV. These chimeras and previously described full-length infectious clones of ONNV and CHIKV were evaluated in Anopheles gambiae and Aedes aegypti mosquitoes. Virus derived from the infectious clones of ONNV and CHIKV retained the vector specificity of the parental viruses. All six of the chimeras were found to infect Ae. aegypti mosquitoes at high rates but only the chimera containing viral genes encoding all of the structural proteins of ONNV was able to infect An. gambiae mosquitoes. These data indicate that all of the viral structural proteins are necessary for ONNV to infect An. gambiae mosquitoes.  (+info)