GloPID-R report on chikungunya, o'nyong-nyong and Mayaro virus, part 2: Epidemiological distribution of o'nyong-nyong virus

doi:10.1016/j.antiviral.2019.104611

Antiviral Research

Volume 172, December 2019, 104611

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.antiviral.2019.104611 Get rights and content

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open access

Highlights

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The real scale of O'nyong-nyong virus circulation in Africa is poorly understood.
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Co-circulation of related viruses causing similar clinical pictures, like chikungunya virus, makes specific diagnosis hard.
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Massive cross-reactivity affects serological tools necessary to perform seroprevalence studies.
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Surveillance studies should be performed to assess the real burden of the disease in Africa.
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The natural history of the disease deserves further investigation, especially long-term complications.

Abstract

The GloPID-R (Global Research Collaboration for Infectious Disease Preparedness) chikungunya (CHIKV), o’nyong-nyong (ONNV) and Mayaro virus (MAYV) Working Group has been established to identify gaps of knowledge about the natural history, epidemiology and medical management of infection by these viruses, and to provide adapted recommendations for future investigations. Here, we present a report dedicated to ONNV epidemiological distribution. Two large-scale ONNV outbreaks have been identified in Africa in the last 60 years, interspersed with sporadic serosurveys and case reports of returning travelers. The assessment of the real scale of ONNV circulation in Africa remains a difficult task and surveillance studies are necessary to fill this gap. The identification of ONNV etiology is made complicated by the absence of multiplex tools in co-circulation areas and that of reference standards, as well as the high cross-reactivity with related pathogens observed in serological tests, in particular with CHIKV. This is a specific obstacle for seroprevalence studies, that necessitate an improvement of serological tools to provide robust results. The scarcity of existent genetic data currently limits molecular epidemiology studies. ONNV epidemiology would also benefit from reinforced entomological and environmental surveillance. Finally, the natural history of the disease deserves to be further investigated, with a specific attention paid to long-term complications. Considering our incomplete knowledge on ONNV distribution, GloPID-R CHIKV, ONNV and MAYV experts recommend that a major effort should be done to fill existing gaps.