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Epidemiology of the Zika virus outbreak in the Cabo Verde Islands, West Africa

Abstract:

Introduction: The Zika virus (ZIKV) outbreak in the island nation of Cabo Verde was of unprecedented magnitude in Africa and the first to be associated with microcephaly in the continent.

Methods: Using a simple mathematical framework we present a first epidemiological assessment of attack and observation rates from 7,580 ZIKV notified cases and 18 microcephaly reports between July 2015 and May 2016.

Results: In line with observations from the Americas and elsewhere, the single-wave Cabo Verdean ZIKV epidemic was characterized by a basic reproductive number of 1.85 (95% CI, 1.5 – 2.2), with overall the attack rate of 51.1% (range 42.1 – 61.1) and observation rate of 2.7% (range 2.29 – 3.33).

Conclusion: Current herd-immunity may not be sufficient to prevent future small-to-medium epidemics in Cabo Verde. Together with a small observation rate, these results highlight the need for rapid and integrated epidemiological, molecular and genomic surveillance to tackle forthcoming outbreaks of ZIKV and other arboviruses.

Publication status:
Published
Peer review status:
Peer reviewed

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Publication website:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5866102/

Authors


More by this author
Institution:
University of Oxford
Division:
MPLS
Department:
Zoology
Role:
Author
More by this author
Institution:
University of Oxford
Division:
MPLS
Department:
Zoology
Oxford college:
Linacre College
Role:
Author
ORCID:
0000-0002-8797-2667


Publisher:
Public Library of Science
Journal:
PLoS Current Outbreaks More from this journal
Volume:
10
Issue:
1
Place of publication:
United States
Publication date:
2018-03-15
Acceptance date:
2018-03-01
EISSN:
2157-3999
Pmid:
29637009


Language:
English
Keywords:
Pubs id:
843437
Local pid:
pubs:843437
Deposit date:
2020-06-15

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