RESUMO
Carnivores such as cats and minks are highly susceptible to SARS-CoV-2. Brazil is a global COVID-19 hot spot and several cases of human-to-cat transmission have been documented. We investigated the spread of SARS-CoV-2 by testing 547 domestic cats sampled between July-November 2020 from seven states in southern, southeastern, and northeastern Brazil. Moreover, we investigated whether immune responses elicited by enzootic coronaviruses affect SARS-CoV-2 infection in cats. We found infection with significantly higher neutralizing antibody titers against the Gamma variant of concern, endemic in Brazil during 2020, than against an early SARS-CoV-2 B.1 isolate (p<0.0001), validating the use of Gamma for further testing. The overall SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence in Brazilian cats during late 2020 validated by plaque reduction neutralization test (PRNT90) was 7.3% (95% CI, 5.3-9.8). There was no significant difference in SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence in cats between Brazilian states, suggesting homogeneous infection levels ranging from 4.6% (95% CI, 2.2-8.4) to 11.4% (95% CI, 6.7-17.4; p=0.4438). Seroprevalence of the prototypic cat coronavirus Feline coronavirus (FCoV) in a PRNT90 was high at 33.3% (95% CI, 24.9-42.5) and seroprevalence of Bovine coronavirus (BCoV) was low at 1.7% (95% CI, 0.2-5.9) in a PRNT90. Neutralizing antibody titers were significantly lower for FCoV than for SARS-CoV-2 (p=0.0001), consistent with relatively more recent infection of cats with SARS-CoV-2. Neither the magnitude of SARS-CoV-2 antibody titers (p=0.6390), nor SARS-CoV-2 infection status were affected by FCoV serostatus (p=0.8863). Our data suggest that pre-existing immunity against enzootic coronaviruses neither prevents, nor enhances SARS-CoV-2 infection in cats. High SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence already during the first year of the pandemic substantiates frequent infection of domestic cats and raises concerns on potential SARS-CoV-2 mutations escaping human immunity upon spillback.
Assuntos
COVID-19 , SARS-CoV-2 , Animais , Anticorpos Neutralizantes , Brasil/epidemiologia , COVID-19/epidemiologia , COVID-19/veterinária , Gatos , Bovinos , Estudos SoroepidemiológicosRESUMO
BACKGROUND: Since 2016 outbreaks of yellow fever are reported in Brazil. This is a risk to unvaccinated travellers in that area. CASE DESCRIPTION: In early January, an unvaccinated traveller returning from São Paulo attended our outpatient clinic complaining of symptoms later diagnosed as yellow fever. The disease manifested itself as fever, lower back pain, nausea and highly elevated liver enzymes. A yellow fever infection has multiple stages. The first stage is acute infection which merges into the second stage which is when improvement occurs. Either improvement continues or transfers into a third stage which is characterized by multi-organ failure. In this particular patient, stage three did not occur. CONCLUSION: The goal of this case report is to show that vaccination against yellow fever is the most important preventive measure when travelling to an area where the yellow fever virus is in circulation. Yellow fever should not be forgotten in the differential diagnosis of a traveller with fever.
Assuntos
Viagem , Vacinação , Vacina contra Febre Amarela , Febre Amarela/prevenção & controle , Vírus da Febre Amarela , Brasil/epidemiologia , Surtos de Doenças , Febre , Humanos , Fígado/enzimologia , Dor Lombar/diagnóstico , Dor Lombar/etiologia , Insuficiência de Múltiplos Órgãos/diagnóstico , Insuficiência de Múltiplos Órgãos/etiologia , Náusea/diagnóstico , Náusea/etiologia , Febre Amarela/complicações , Febre Amarela/diagnóstico , Febre Amarela/epidemiologiaRESUMO
BACKGROUND: Diagnostic requests for both Zika virus (ZIKV) and dengue virus (DENV) infections in returning travelers have significantly increased during the recent ZIKV outbreak in the Americás. These flaviviruses have overlapping clinical syndromes and geographical distribution, but diagnostic differentiation is important because of different clinical consequences. As flaviviruses are known to have a short viremic period, diagnostics often rely on serological methods, which are challenging due to extensive cross-reactive antibodies. OBJECTIVE: To re-evaluate the performance of DENV serological assays in laboratory confirmed ZIKV-infected travelers. STUDY DESIGN: The extent of cross-reactivity of the DENV NS1 antigen, IgM and IgG ELISA was analyzed in 152 clinical blood samples collected from 69 qRT-PCR and 24 virus neutralization titer (VNT) confirmed ZIKV-infected travelers. RESULTS: The majority of travelers in the presented cohort returned to the Netherlands from Suriname and presented with symptoms of fever and rash. Twenty-three percent of the female travelers were pregnant. None of the 39 ZIKV RNA positive blood samples were cross-reactive in the DENV NS1 antigen ELISA. The rates of cross-reactivity of the DENV IgM and IgG ELISÁs were 31% and 54%, respectively, after excluding travelers with (potential) previous DENV exposure. CONCLUSIONS: Although the DENV NS1 antigen assay was highly specific in this cohort of laboratory confirmed ZIKV-infected travelers, we demonstrate high percentages of cross-reactivity of DENV IgM and IgG ELISÁs of which diagnostic laboratories should be aware. In addition, the high rate of DENV IgG background of >25% complicates a proper serological diagnosis in this group.
Assuntos
Anticorpos Antivirais/sangue , Vírus da Dengue/imunologia , Vírus da Dengue/isolamento & purificação , Dengue/diagnóstico , Doença Relacionada a Viagens , Infecção por Zika virus/diagnóstico , Zika virus/imunologia , Adulto , Estudos de Coortes , Reações Cruzadas , Dengue/virologia , Vírus da Dengue/genética , Ensaio de Imunoadsorção Enzimática/métodos , Feminino , Humanos , Imunoglobulina G/sangue , Imunoglobulina M/sangue , Masculino , Pessoa de Meia-Idade , Países Baixos , RNA Viral/sangue , Reação em Cadeia da Polimerase em Tempo Real , Testes Sorológicos , Suriname , Proteínas não Estruturais Virais/sangue , Proteínas não Estruturais Virais/imunologia , Zika virus/genética , Zika virus/isolamento & purificação , Infecção por Zika virus/virologiaRESUMO
PURPOSE: We report 18 cases of confirmed Zika virus (ZIKV) infection in travellers returning to the Netherlands from Surinam (South America, bordering northern Brazil) and the Dominican Republic. METHODS: In a multi-centre study, we collected epidemiological, virological and clinical characteristics, as well as data on travel history, underlying illness and laboratory results of the 18 imported ZIKV infection cases using a standardised form. RESULTS: Most cases had a self-limiting course of disease, two patients developed complications, one had Guillain-Barré and another had severe thrombocytopenia. Four patients had underlying illness. One of the reported cases was pregnant. Three of 13 patients tested had a weak-positive result for dengue IgM. The majority of patients were born in Suriname and/or visiting friends and relatives (VFR). CONCLUSIONS: Providing pre-travel advice among travellers, especially VFR travellers, is needed to enhance the use of preventive measures against ZIKV infection. Further evidence on health risks associated with ZIKV infection is urgently needed.
Assuntos
Surtos de Doenças , Infecção por Zika virus , Adolescente , Adulto , Criança , Estudos de Coortes , República Dominicana , Feminino , Humanos , Masculino , Pessoa de Meia-Idade , Países Baixos , Gravidez , Complicações Infecciosas na Gravidez , Suriname , Viagem , Adulto Jovem , Zika virusRESUMO
We present three patients from Suriname who were diagnosed with Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) during the Zika virus (ZIKV) outbreak in this country. One patient had a positive ZIKV urine real-time RT-PCR (qRT-PCR) result. The other two patients had a negative ZIKV urine qRT-PCR but a positive virus neutralization test and presence of IgG antibodies against ZIKV in the serum. Considering the evidence of a past ZIKV infection and absence of evidence for recent infections with the most common preceding infections of GBS, it is very likely that these GBS cases were triggered by ZIKV.
RESUMO
INTRODUCTION: Suriname is a country on the northeastern Atlantic coast of South America. It is unique in the sense that different ethnic cultures live together within the country, resulting in high levels of transport of both humans and products between the Asian, African, and European continents as well as the Caribbean. Travel is only one of the many factors present in Suriname contributing to the risk for the emergence or introduction of any infectious disease. Recently, circulation of both chikungunya virus (CHIKV) and hantavirus was reported in areas neighboring Suriname. Here we report a retrospective and prospective study into chikungunya and hantavirus circulation. METHODS: A chikungunya and hantavirus retrospective serological study was conducted on samples submitted for dengue, leptospirosis, and/or influenza virus diagnostics between 2008 and 2012 to the Bureau of Public Health in Suriname. This was followed by a prospective CHIKV serological and molecular surveillance study until the detection of the first autochthonous CHIKV cases in Suriname in May and June of 2014. RESULTS: None of the tested samples showed the presence of CHIKV antibodies in the retrospective serological study. Prospective testing of CHIKV-suspected patients resulted in the detection of the first autochthonous CHIKV cases in Suriname in May, 2015. In one sample, we were able to isolate and sequence the virus. Retrospective testing for the presence of hantavirus antibodies showed a relative high response in both pan-hantavirus enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and immunofluorescence assay (IFA). However, neutralization tests did not yield any evidence for infection with either Seoul or Andes hantavirus. CONCLUSION: Here we report the presence of CHIKV in the republic of Suriname and the first serological indication of hantavirus infections in symptomatic patients.