1. Crimean Congo hemorrhagic fever virus exposure among febrile patients, cattle herders, and cattle herds in Cameroon.
- Author
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Simo FBN, Teagho UCS, Atako SM, Lontsi BT, Owona BVA, Demanou M, Wondji CS, Kamgang B, Burt FJ, Ryan SJ, Makoah NA, Dinglasan RR, and Moundipa PF
- Subjects
- Animals, Cattle, Cameroon epidemiology, Humans, Female, Cross-Sectional Studies, Male, Adult, Seroepidemiologic Studies, Middle Aged, Young Adult, Adolescent, Antibodies, Viral blood, Child, Aged, Ticks virology, Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay, Fever epidemiology, Fever virology, Hemorrhagic Fever, Crimean epidemiology, Hemorrhagic Fever, Crimean transmission, Hemorrhagic Fever, Crimean virology, Hemorrhagic Fever, Crimean veterinary, Hemorrhagic Fever Virus, Crimean-Congo isolation & purification, Hemorrhagic Fever Virus, Crimean-Congo immunology, Cattle Diseases epidemiology, Cattle Diseases virology, Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice
- Abstract
Problem Addressed: Crimean Congo hemorrhagic fever (CCHF) is a tick-borne disease with high fatality rates and an expansive geographic distribution, yet disease prevalence data in Cameroon is lacking., Objective: This study aimed to determine CCHF virus (CCHFV) seroprevalence and tick distribution among cattle herders and febrile patients in West and Centre Cameroon., Methods and Approach: Two cross-sectional serological studies of human and cattle were conducted from October to December 2021 and from June to July 2022, which included the collection of ticks. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) were used to detect anti-CCHFV antibodies, while a knowledge, attitudes, and practice (KAP) survey assessed tick and tickborne disease related knowledge and behaviors among herders. Tick identification used morphological keys., Results: The KAP survey showed adequate tick knowledge (94.5 %) among herders but poor understanding of disease transmission, with favorable attitudes towards tick control (24.7 %) but inadequate implementation. Rhipicephalus annulatus (64.1 %) predominated among the 1,296 ticks collected during each rainy season. Among cattle, 27.4 % were seropositive, and seropositivity was associated with specific villages, cattle age (>4 years), and female sex. Herders had a 17.8 % seroprevalence, while febrile patients had 8.3 %, with higher rates in those >20 years old for both groups. Self-reported tick removal by herders after contact and grazing may increase CCHFV exposure., Conclusions: This study confirms CCHFV circulation in rural West Cameroon and unexpected exposure risk in Yaounde, highlighting the need for active entomological surveillance and preventive measures in transhumance and cattle market activities. Establishing an occupation-based surveillance system can help identify CCHFV hotspots to prevent outbreaks., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)
- Published
- 2024
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