International Journal of Infectious Diseases (Jul 2021)

Emergence of Indian lineage of ECSA chikungunya virus in Djibouti, 2019

  • Toscane Fourié,
  • Aissata Dia,
  • Quentin Savreux,
  • Vincent Pommier de Santi,
  • Xavier de Lamballerie,
  • Isabelle Leparc-Goffart,
  • Fabrice Simon

Journal volume & issue
Vol. 108
pp. 198 – 201

Abstract

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The chikungunya virus (CHIKV) originated from Africa and has spread worldwide. Since 2017, multiple chikungunya outbreaks have been reported in the Horn of Africa, without molecular characterization. In November 2019, an autochthonous acute chikungunya infection was diagnosed in a French patient living in Djibouti, marking the re-emergence of the virus in the country. The strain was isolated and fully sequenced. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that the Djiboutian strain belongs to the Indian lineage of the Eastern/Central/South African (ECSA) genotype. Two mutations highly increasing the virus’s fitness in Aedes aegypti, the sole vector present in Djibouti city, were identified.

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