Zika virus infection in asymptomatic persons in Myanmar, 2018

2020 ◽  
Vol 114 (6) ◽  
pp. 440-447
Author(s):  
Mya Myat Ngwe Tun ◽  
Saw Wut Hmone ◽  
Aung Min Soe ◽  
Elizabeth Luvai ◽  
Khine Mya Nwe ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Zika virus (ZIKV) is a mosquito-borne flavivirus. Outbreaks of ZIKV infection have occurred in Africa, Southeast Asia, the Pacific Islands, the Americas and the Caribbean. Although most ZIKV infections are asymptomatic, cases of neurological manifestations have been described. The aim of the present study was to identify the prevalence of ZIKV infection among the asymptomatic persons in Myanmar in 2018. Methods A total of 284 serum samples from apparently healthy persons were collected from Yangon, Myanmar in 2018. They were analysed for ZIKV infection by immunoglobulin M (IgM) capture enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), IgG indirect ELISA, 50% focus reduction neutralization test, real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and conventional RT-PCR. Results Of the 284 apparently healthy persons, 31.3% were positive for the presence of IgM against ZIKV and 94.3% were positive for anti-flavivirus IgG. Among the ZIKV IgM-positive samples, we confirmed ZIKV infection in 15.8% of asymptomatic persons by neutralization test and real-time RT-PCR. Conclusions We conclude that ZIKV infection was increasing among asymptomatic persons in the same area in Myanmar during 2018 compared with 2017. It is highly recommended to strengthen the surveillance system for ZIKV to prevent possible outbreaks.

2018 ◽  
Vol 220 (6) ◽  
pp. 932-939 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eli S Rosenberg ◽  
Kate Doyle ◽  
Jorge L Munoz-Jordan ◽  
Liore Klein ◽  
Laura Adams ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Little is known about the prevalence or incidence of Zika virus (ZIKV) infection in settings affected by the 2015–2016 Zika pandemic and associated risk factors. We assessed these factors among household contacts of patients with ZIKV disease enrolled in a cohort study in Puerto Rico during 2016–2017. Methods Household contacts of index case patients completed a questionnaire and gave specimens for real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and immunoglobulin M enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay testing to detect ZIKV infection. We measured the prevalence of ZIKV infection among contacts and associated individual and household factors, examined sexual transmission using a sexual-networks approach, and assessed incident infection among initially uninfected household contacts 2–4 months later. Results Of 366 contacts, 34.4% had evidence of ZIKV infection at enrollment, including 11.2% by RT-PCR. Having open doors and windows that were either screened (prevalence ratio [PR], 2.1 [95% confidence interval {CI}, 1.2–3.6]) or unscreened (PR, 2.5 [95% CI, 1.5–4.1]) was associated with increased prevalence. Sexual partners were more likely to both be RT-PCR positive relative to other relationships (odds ratio, 2.2 [95% CI, 1.1–4.5]). At follow-up, 6.1% of contacts had evidence of incident infection. Conclusions This study identified sexual contact as a risk factor for ZIKV infection. Persons living with ZIKV-infected individuals should be a focus of public health efforts.


2014 ◽  
Vol 8 (10) ◽  
pp. 1339-1343 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gamal Wareth ◽  
Falk Melzer ◽  
Mandy C Elschner ◽  
Heinrich Neubauer ◽  
Uwe Roesler

Introduction: Brucellosis in Egypt is an endemic disease among animals and humans. In endemic developing countries, dairy products produced from untreated milk are a potential threat to public health. The aim of this study was to detect brucellae in milk and milk products produced from apparently healthy animals to estimate the prevalence of contamination. Methodology: Two hundred and fifteen unpasteurized milk samples were collected from apparently healthy cattle (n = 72) and buffaloes (n = 128) reared on small farms, and from milk shops (n = 15) producing dairy products for human consumption. All milk samples were examined by indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (iELISA) and real-time PCR (RT-PCR) to detect Brucella antibodies and Brucella-specific DNA, respectively. Results: Using iELISA, anti-Brucella antibodies were detected in 34 samples (16%), while RT-PCR amplified Brucella-specific DNA from 17 milk samples (7.9%). Species-specific IS711 RT-PCR identified 16 of the RT-PCR-positive samples as containing B. melitensis DNA; 1 RT-PCR-positive sample was identified as containing B. abortus DNA. Conclusions: The detection of Brucella DNA in milk or milk products sold for human consumption, especially the highly pathogenic species B. melitensis, is of obvious concern. The shedding of Brucella spp. in milk poses an increasing threat to consumers in Egypt. Consumption of dairy products produced from non-pasteurized milk by individual farmers operating under poor hygienic conditions represents an unacceptable risk to public health.


Author(s):  
Otavio de Melo Espindola ◽  
Thomas Jaenish ◽  
Karin NielsenSaines ◽  
Raquel de Vasconcellos Carvalhaes de Oliveira ◽  
Boris Pastorino ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Zika virus (ZIKV) is associated with severe congenital abnormalities and laboratory diagnosis of antenatal infection is difficult. Here we evaluated ZIKV neutralizing antibody (Nab) kinetics in infants born to mothers with PCR-confirmed ZIKV infection during pregnancy. Methods Neonates (n=98) had serum specimens tested repeatedly for ZIKV Nab over the first two years of life using virus neutralization test (VNT). ZIKV neonatal infection was confirmed by RT-PCR in blood or urine and/or presence of ZIKV IgM antibodies, and results were correlated with infant clinical features. Results Postnatal laboratory evidence of ZIKV vertical transmission was obtained for 60.2% of children, while 32.7% exhibited clinical abnormalities. Congenital abnormalities were found in 37.3% of children with confirmed ZIKV infection and 31.0% of children without confirmed infection (p=0.734). All but one child displayed a physiologic decline in ZIKV Nab, reflecting maternal antibody decay, despite an early ZIKV-IgM response in 1/3 of infants. Conclusions Infants with antenatal ZIKV exposure do not develop ZIKV Nab despite an early IgM response. Therefore, ZIKV VNT in children is not useful for diagnosis of congenital infection. In light of these findings, it remains to be determined if children infected in utero are potentially susceptible to reinfection.


Diagnostics ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (10) ◽  
pp. 835
Author(s):  
Moyra Machado Portilho ◽  
Laise de Moraes ◽  
Mariana Kikuti ◽  
Leile Camila Jacob Nascimento ◽  
Mitermayer Galvão Reis ◽  
...  

Serological diagnosis of Zika virus (ZIKV) infection is challenging because of antigenic cross-reactivity with dengue virus (DENV). This study evaluated the accuracy of the Zika IgM antibody capture enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (CDC Zika IgM MAC-ELISA) in differentiating between ZIKV and DENV infections. To determine sensitivity, we used acute- and convalescent-phase sera from 21 patients with RT-PCR-confirmed ZIKV infection. To determine specificity, we used acute- and convalescent-phase sera from 60 RT-PCR-confirmed dengue cases and sera from 23 blood donors. During the acute-phase of the illness, the assay presented a sensitivity of 12.5% (2/16) for samples collected 0–4 days post symptoms onset (DPSO), and of 75.0% (3/4) for samples collected 5–9 DPSO. During the convalescent-phase of the illness, the test sensitivity was 90.9% (10/11), 100% (2/2), and 0% (0/2) for samples obtained 12–102, 258–260, and 722–727 DPSO, respectively. Specificity for acute- and convalescent-phase samples from RT-PCR-confirmed dengue cases was 100% and 93.2%, respectively. Specificity for blood donor samples was 100%. The assay is an accurate method for Zika serological diagnosis and proved to be reliable for use during surveillance and outbreak investigations in settings where ZIKV and DENV cocirculate.


Viruses ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 123
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Centeno-Tablante ◽  
Melisa Medina-Rivera ◽  
Julia L. Finkelstein ◽  
Heather S. Herman ◽  
Pura Rayco-Solon ◽  
...  

We systematically searched regional and international databases and screened 1658 non-duplicate records describing women with suspected or confirmed ZIKV infection, intending to breastfeed or give breast milk to an infant to examine the potential of mother-to-child transmission of Zika virus (ZIKV) through breast milk or breastfeeding-related practices. Fourteen studies met our inclusion criteria and inform this analysis. These studies reported on 97 mother–children pairs who provided breast milk for ZIKV assessment. Seventeen breast milk samples from different women were found positive for ZIKV via RT-PCR, and ZIKV replication was found in cell cultures from five out of seven breast milk samples from different women. Only three out of six infants who had ZIKV infection were breastfed, no evidence of clinical complications was found to be associated with ZIKV RNA in breast milk. This review updates our previous report by including 12 new articles, in which we found no evidence of ZIKV mother-to-child transmission through breast milk intake or breastfeeding. As the certainty of the present evidence is low, additional studies are still warranted to determine if ZIKV can be transmitted through breastfeeding.


Plant Disease ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 97 (5) ◽  
pp. 641-644 ◽  
Author(s):  
Manphool S. Fageria ◽  
Mathuresh Singh ◽  
Upeksha Nanayakkara ◽  
Yvan Pelletier ◽  
Xianzhou Nie ◽  
...  

The current-season spread of Potato virus Y (PVY) was investigated in New Brunswick, Canada, in 11 potato fields planted with six different cultivars in 2009 and 2010. In all, 100 plants selected from each field were monitored for current-season PVY infections using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and real-time reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) assay. Average PVY incidence in fields increased from 0.6% in 2009 and 2% in 2010 in the leaves to 20.3% in 2009 and 21.9% in 2010 in the tubers at the time of harvest. In individual fields, PVY incidence in tubers reached as high as 37% in 2009 and 39% in 2010 at the time of harvest. Real-time RT-PCR assay detected more samples with PVY from leaves than did ELISA. A higher number of positive samples was also detected with real-time RT-PCR from growing tubers compared with the leaves collected from the same plant at the same sampling time. PVY incidence determined from the growing tubers showed a significant positive correlation with the PVY incidence of tubers after harvest. Preharvest testing provides another option to growers to either top-kill the crop immediately to secure the seed market when the PVY incidence is low or leave the tubers to develop further for table or processing purposes when incidence of PVY is high.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kim-Ling Chin ◽  
Nurhafiza binti Zainal ◽  
Sing-Sin Sam ◽  
Pouya Hassandarvish ◽  
Rafidah Lani ◽  
...  

Abstract Neonatal microcephaly and adult Guillain-Barré syndrome are severe complications of Zika virus (ZIKV) infection. The robustly induced inflammatory cytokine expressions in ZIKV-infected patients may constitute a hallmark for severe disease. In the present study, the potential role of high mobility group box 1 protein (HMGB1) in ZIKV infection was investigated. HMGB1 protein expression was determined by the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and immunoblot assay. HMGB1’s role in ZIKV infection was also explored using treatment with dexamethasone, an immunomodulatory drug. Antiviral effects of dexamethasone treatment on both wild-typed (WT) and HMGB1-knockdown (shHMGB1) Huh7 cells were determined by the focus-forming assay. Results showed that the Huh7 cells were highly susceptible to ZIKV infection. The infection was found to induce HMGB1 nuclear-to-cytoplasmic translocation, resulting in a >99% increase in the cytosolic HMGB1 expression at 72h.p.i. The extracellular HMGB1 level was elevated in a time- and multiplicity of infection (MOI)- dependent manner. Dexamethasone 150 µM treatment of the ZIKV-infected cells reduced HMGB1 extracellular release in a dose-dependent manner, with a maximum reduction of 71 ± 5.84% (p < 0.01). The treatment also reduced virus titers by over 83 ± 0.50% (p < 0.01). The antiviral effects, however, was not observed in the dexamethasone-treated HMGB1-knockdown cells, suggesting the importance of the intracellular HMGB1 in ZIKV infection. Overall, these results suggest that translocation of HMGB1 occurred during ZIKV infection and inhibition of the translocation reduced ZIKV replication. These findings highlight the potential of developing therapeutics against ZIKV infection by affecting the translocation of HMGB1 from the nucleus to the cytoplasm.


2019 ◽  
Vol 37 (07) ◽  
pp. 731-737 ◽  
Author(s):  
Audrey A. Merriam ◽  
Chia-Ling Nhan-Chang ◽  
B. Isabel Huerta-Bogdan ◽  
Ronald Wapner ◽  
Cynthia Gyamfi-Bannerman

Objective Our institution is in an area of New York City with a large population of immigrants from Zika virus endemic areas. With the recent Zika virus outbreak, we sought to examine our center's experience with screening for Zika virus and outcomes among patients who tested positive for the disease during pregnancy. Study Design We performed a chart review of all pregnant patients who tested positive (positive serum or urine polymerase chain reaction [PCR]) or presumed positive (immunoglobulin M [IgM] enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay [ELISA] positive or IgM ELISA equivocal with positive plaque reduction neutralization test) for Zika virus. All tests were performed by the Department of Health (DOH) and followed Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines in effect at the time of specimen collection. Testing of cord blood, placenta, and/or neonatal blood were/was performed by the DOH for New York County. Prenatal ultrasounds for fetal head size and surveillance for calcifications were performed by maternal–fetal medicine specialists. Infant head ultrasound results were included when available. Results Between March 2016 and April 2017, 70 pregnant patients were positive or presumed positive for Zika infection during pregnancy. Of those, 16 women had positive urine or serum PCR and the remaining 54 were presumed positive. Among positive cases, five women tested positive via urine PCR only, nine women tested positive via serum PCR only, and two women had both positive urine and serum PCR. Fifteen of 67 infants (22%) born during the study period were born to mothers with positive urine or serum PCR testing. Sixty-five newborns were clinically normal with normal head measurements. Of the intracranial ultrasound performed, one infant had a grade 1 intraventricular hemorrhage, four had incidental choroid plexus cysts, and one had severe ventriculomegaly that was also noted antenatally. There were 2 positive and 15 equivocal infant serum IgM samples and 1 positive placental PCR from these pregnancies. There were four pregnancy terminations and two cases with fetal anomalies in this population that were split evenly between patients who tested positive and those who tested presumed positive for Zika virus during pregnancy. Conclusion We found no differences in pregnancy or neonatal outcomes between women who tested positive and presumed positive for Zika virus during pregnancy. Testing of infants and placenta tissue after delivery was largely inconclusive. Improvement in testing for Zika virus infection is needed to determine which pregnancies are at risk for congenital anomalies. Further research is still needed to determine which children are at risk for poor neurodevelopmental outcomes related to Zika virus and how to best coordinate care among the immigrant population during a new disease epidemic.


2017 ◽  
Vol 2017 ◽  
pp. 1-4 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tuan Nur Akmalina Mat Jusoh ◽  
Rafidah Hanim Shueb

The shattering rise in dengue virus infections globally has created a need for an accurate and validated rapid diagnostic test for this virus. Rapid diagnostic test (RDT) and reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) diagnostic detection are useful tools for diagnosis of early dengue infection. We prospectively evaluated the diagnostic performance of nonstructural 1 (NS1) RDT and real-time RT-PCR diagnostic kits in 86 patient serum samples. Thirty-six samples were positive for dengue NS1 antigen while the remaining 50 were negative when tested with enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Commercially available RDTs for NS1 detection, RTK ProDetect™, and SD Bioline showed high sensitivity of 94% and 89%, respectively, compared with ELISA. GenoAmp® Trioplex Real-Time RT-PCR and RealStar® Dengue RT-PCR tests presented a comparable kappa agreement with 0.722. The result obtained from GenoAmp® Real-Time RT-PCR Dengue test showed that 14 samples harbored dengue virus type 1 (DENV-1), 8 samples harbored DENV-2, 2 samples harbored DENV-3, and 1 sample harbored DENV-4. 1 sample had a double infection with DENV-1 and DENV-2. The NS1 RDTs and real-time RT-PCR tests were found to be a useful diagnostic for early and rapid diagnosis of acute dengue and an excellent surveillance tool in our battle against dengue.


2017 ◽  
Vol 55 (7) ◽  
pp. 2127-2136 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dane Granger ◽  
Heather Hilgart ◽  
Lori Misner ◽  
Jaime Christensen ◽  
Sarah Bistodeau ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Serologic evaluation for Zika virus (ZIKV) infection currently includes an initial screen using an anti-ZIKV IgM antibody capture enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (MAC-ELISA) followed by supplemental testing of specimens with nonnegative results by a plaque reduction neutralization test (PRNT). We compared the performance characteristics of three ELISAs for the detection of IgM class antibodies to ZIKV, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Zika MAC-ELISA, the InBios ZIKV Detect MAC-ELISA, and the Euroimmun anti-Zika Virus IgM ELISA. Additionally, we present our initial experiences with ZIKV serologic testing from a national reference laboratory perspective. Using both retrospectively and prospectively collected specimens from patients with possible ZIKV infection, we show that the CDC and InBios MAC-ELISAs perform comparably to each other, with positive agreement, negative agreement, and interrater kappa values ranging from 87.5% to 93.1%, 95.7% to 98.5%, and 0.52 to 0.83, respectively. In contrast, comparison of the Euroimmun ZIKV ELISA to either the CDC or InBios MAC-ELISAs resulted in positive agreement, negative agreement, and interrater kappa values ranging from 17.9% to 42.9%, 91.7% to 98.6%, and 0.10 to 0.39, respectively. Among the 19 prospective samples submitted for PRNT, nine were negative, eight specimens had neutralizing antibodies to a flavivirus (unable to be identified), and one sample each was confirmed for ZIKV or dengue virus infection. This study highlights the ongoing challenges associated with serologic diagnosis of ZIKV infection. Although the availability of a commercial serologic test for ZIKV has greatly expanded the national capacity for such testing, the need to further characterize and improve these assays, particularly with regard to specificity, remains.


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