Evidence for circulation of Rift Valley fever virus in wildlife and domestic animals in a forest environment in Gabon, Central Africa.
PLoS Negl Trop Dis
; 18(3): e0011756, 2024 Mar.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-38427694
ABSTRACT
Rift Valley fever (RVF) is a mosquito-borne viral zoonosis caused by the Rift Valley fever virus (RVFV) that can infect domestic and wild animals. Although the RVFV transmission cycle has been well documented across Africa in savanna ecosystems, little is known about its transmission in tropical rainforest settings, particularly in Central Africa. We therefore conducted a survey in northeastern Gabon to assess RVFV circulation among wild and domestic animals. Among 163 wildlife samples tested using RVFV-specific RT-qPCR, four ruminants belonging to subfamily Cephalophinae were detected positive. The phylogenetic analysis revealed that the four RVFV sequences clustered together with a virus isolated in Namibia within the well-structured Egyptian clade. A cross-sectional survey conducted on sheep, goats and dogs living in villages within the same area determined the IgG RVFV-specific antibody prevalence using cELISA. Out of the 306 small ruminants tested (214 goats, 92 sheep), an overall antibody prevalence of 15.4% (95% CI [11.5-19.9]) was observed with a higher rate in goats than in sheep (20.1% versus 3.3%). RVFV-specific antibodies were detected in a single dog out of the 26 tested. Neither age, sex of domestic animals nor season was found to be significant risk factors of RVFV occurrence. Our findings highlight sylvatic circulation of RVFV for the first time in Gabon. These results stress the need to develop adequate surveillance plan measures to better control the public health threat of RVFV.
Texto completo:
1
Coleções:
01-internacional
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Febre do Vale de Rift
/
Vírus da Febre do Vale do Rift
Limite:
Animals
País/Região como assunto:
Africa
Idioma:
En
Ano de publicação:
2024
Tipo de documento:
Article