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      Zika Virus Transmission from French Polynesia to Brazil

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          Abstract

          To the Editor: Campos et al. ( 1 ) reported a Zika virus (ZIKV) outbreak in Brazil in 2015. This response adds complementary data related to the propagation of this mosquitoborne disease. To date, the largest ZIKV outbreak occurred in French Polynesia during 2013–2014. The outbreak spread to other Pacific Islands: New Caledonia, Cook Islands, Easter Island, Vanuatu, and Solomon Islands ( 2 ). The origin of introduction of ZIKV to French Polynesia remains unknown; introduction of ZIKV in New Caledonia was after imported cases from French Polynesia ( 3 ); introduction to Easter Island was suspected to have occurred among attendees of the annual Tapati festival, including those from French Polynesia ( 4 ). The virus was likely transmitted to New Caledonia, Cook Islands, and Easter Island when infected travelers from French Polynesia were bitten by vectors while on the islands. Frequent travel between New Caledonia and Vanuatu is likely related to the introduction of ZIKV in the latter country. Phylogenetic studies showed that the closest strain to the one that emerged in Brazil was isolated from samples from case-patients in French Polynesia and spread among the Pacific Islands ( 1 ); both strains belong to the Asian lineage. It has been assumed that ZIKV was introduced to Brazil during a World Cup soccer competition in 2014 ( 5 ), although no ZIKV-endemic Pacific countries competed. However, in August 2014, the Va’a World Sprint Championship canoe race was held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Four Pacific countries (French Polynesia, New Caledonia, Cook Islands, and Easter Island) in which ZIKV circulated during 2014 had teams engaged in this contest in several categories. These data combined with phylogenetic studies by Zanluca et al. ( 5 ) suggest that ZIKV introduction in Brazil may have been a consequence of this event. In areas where potential vectors are present, vigilance should be enhanced to detect imported cases of ZIKV, and laboratory capacity to confirm suspected ZIKV infections should be strengthened.

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          First report of autochthonous transmission of Zika virus in Brazil

          In the early 2015, several cases of patients presenting symptoms of mild fever, rash, conjunctivitis and arthralgia were reported in the northeastern Brazil. Although all patients lived in a dengue endemic area, molecular and serological diagnosis for dengue resulted negative. Chikungunya virus infection was also discarded. Subsequently, Zika virus (ZIKV) was detected by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction from the sera of eight patients and the result was confirmed by DNA sequencing. Phylogenetic analysis suggests that the ZIKV identified belongs to the Asian clade. This is the first report of ZIKV infection in Brazil.
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            Zika virus: following the path of dengue and chikungunya?

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              Co-infection with Zika and Dengue Viruses in 2 Patients, New Caledonia, 2014

              To the Editor: Dengue is the most prevalent arthropod-borne viral disease in tropical and subtropical countries. Every year, dengue virus (DENV) infections cause more than 50 million cases, 500,000 hospitalizations, and 12,500 deaths worldwide ( 1 ). DENV belongs to the genus Flavivirus and is transmitted by Aedes spp. mosquitoes. There are 4 distinct serotypes (DENV-1 to DENV-4), and infection with 1 serotype does not provide long-term, cross-protective immunity against the other 3 serotypes. In New Caledonia, DENV outbreaks have occurred since World War II and have been caused mainly by 1 serotype/genotype introduced from a country to which dengue is hyperendemic. Since 2000, New Caledonia has had recurrent DENV-1 outbreaks ( 2 ). In 2014, circulation of DENV-1 and DENV-3 was still reported in this country ( 3 ). Zika virus (ZIKV) is an emerging mosquito-borne virus that belongs to the genus Flavivirus and was first isolated in Uganda ( 4 ). ZIKV is believed to be transmitted to humans by Aedes spp. mosquitoes. Before 2007, few human cases of infection had been reported. In 2007, the first Zika epidemic occurred in Yap, Federated States of Micronesia ( 5 ). In October 2013, a ZIKV outbreak was reported in French Polynesia ( 6 ). In New Caledonia, the first cases of ZIKV infection imported from French Polynesia were confirmed at the end of November 2013, and the first autochthonous cases were reported by mid-January 2014. Early in February 2014, the New Caledonia Health Authority declared an outbreak situation. Since February 2014, a total of 1,385 ZIKV laboratory-confirmed cases have been detected, including 35 imported cases (32 from French Polynesia, 2 from Vanuatu, and 1 from the Cook Islands). Concomitant with this ZIKV outbreak, circulation of DENV-1 and DENV-3 was reported; >150 cases were biologically confirmed during January–September 2014 ( 3 ). Thus, New Caledonia currently has 3 arboviruses co-circulating. In recent years, co-circulation of multiple DENV serotypes or DENV and chikungunya virus has been reported. Although rare co-infections have been identified ( 7 , 8 ), given the similar clinical features and lack of concurrent testing, co-infections might not be identified. We report detection of ZIKV and DENV genomes in serum of a traveler (patient 1) who returned from French Polynesia where ZIKV and DENV were co-circulating ( 6 , 9 ) and in serum of a person (patient 2) in New Caledonia who had no travel history. The traveler was co-infected with ZIKV and DENV-3, and the local patient was co-infected with ZIKV and DENV-1. Patient 1 was a 14-year-old boy who had fever (39.5°C), headache, arthralgia, asthenia, and myalgia. No hemorrhagic or neurologic findings were reported, and the patient recovered within 3 days. A complete blood count showed mild thrombocytopenia (platelet count 129 × 109 platelets/L; reference range 150–400 × 109 platelets/L), leukopenia (leukocyte count 2.75 × 109 cells/L; reference range 4–10 × 109 cells/L) with associated stimulated lymphocytes, and discreet hepatic cytolysis (aspartate aminotransferase 55 IU/L; reference value <34 UI/L, and alanine aminotransferase 51 IU/L; reference value <55 IU/L). Serum was analyzed by using real-time reverse transcription PCR (RT-PCR) and was positive for ZIKV as recommended by Lanciotti et al. ( 5 ) and DENV-3. Patient 2 was a 38-year-old woman who had fever (40°C), headache, arthralgia, asthenia, myalgia, retroorbital pain, conjunctivitis, diarrhea, nausea, and a diffuse pruritic maculopapular rash. No hemorrhagic or neurologic findings were reported, but signs of illness lasted ≈1 week. The patient had mild thrombocytopenia (platelet count 123 × 109 platelets/L) and leukopenia (leukocyte count 2.65 × 109 cells/L). Serum was analyzed by using RT-PCR ( 5 ) and was positive for ZIKV and DENV-1. Co-infections were assessed by sequencing partial ZIKV membrane–envelope gene regions for isolates (GenBank accession nos. KM212963 and KM212967) from both patients, partial DENV-1 envelope gene for an isolate (KM212960) from patient 2, and partial DENV-3 nonstructural protein 5 gene for an isolate (KM212962) from patient 1. Sequencing was conducted at La Plateforme du Vivant (Noumea, New Caledonia). DENV-1 sequence obtained belonged to genotype I and clustered with DENV-1 sequences isolated in New Caledonia ( 2 ). DENV-3 sequence obtained belonged to genotype III, similar to DENV-3 recently isolated in French Polynesia ( 9 ). ZIKV sequences obtained belonged to the Asian lineage and had 99% identity with sequences of ZIKV isolated in French Polynesia in 2013 ( 10 ). Serum specimens from both patients were cultured on Vero cells, and supernatants were evaluated by RT-PCR. Each specimen was positive only for DENV, which was probably caused by low viral loads for ZIKV. We report co-infection of 2 patients with DENV and ZIKV; each patient was infected with a different DENV serotype. No synergistic effects of the 2 viral infections were observed because both patients were not hospitalized and recovered after a mild clinical course. During this outbreak, patients in New Caledonia were tested for DENV, chikungunya virus, and ZIKV within the framework of the arboviruses sentinel network, which enabled detection of co-infections. Thus, clinicians should be aware of infections with multiple pathogens in the differential diagnosis of dengue-like illness, especially in patients who returned from tropical regions. This diagnostic procedure could be improved by using multiplex RT-PCR for travelers, given the frequent co-circulation of multiple arboviruses in tropical regions.
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                Author and article information

                Journal
                Emerg Infect Dis
                Emerging Infect. Dis
                EID
                Emerging Infectious Diseases
                Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
                1080-6040
                1080-6059
                October 2015
                : 21
                : 10
                : 1887
                Affiliations
                [1]Institut Louis Malardé, Papeete, Tahiti, French Polynesia
                Author notes
                Address for correspondence: Didier Musso, Institut Louis Malardé, PO Box 30, 98713 Papeete, Tahiti, French Polynesia; email: dmusso@ 123456ilm.pf
                Article
                15-1125
                10.3201/eid2110.151125
                4593458
                26403318
                982d73e4-26c0-4b8f-8278-493aa2d8ffff
                History
                Categories
                Letters to the Editor
                Letter
                Zika Virus Transmission from French Polynesia to Brazil

                Infectious disease & Microbiology
                zika virus,zikv,arbovirus,viruses,vector-borne infections,mosquito,aedes spp.,ae. africanus,ae. luteocephalus,ae. hensilli,ae. aegypti,brazil,french polynesia,pacific islands,new caledonia,cook islands,easter island,vanuatu

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