Cryptic circulation of chikungunya virus in Côte d'Ivoire revealed by sentinel travellers, 2023-24

Laura Pezzi; Gabriella Modenesi; Nazli Ayhan; Laura Verdurme; Ségolène Brichler; Jean-Michel Mansuy; Jacques Izopet; Morgane Mailhe; Sylvie Lariven; Alexandre Duvignaud; Nael Zemali; Christophe Ramière; Vinca Icard; Véronique Bravy; Nelly Fournet; Ayoub Idrissi; Aurélien Zhu-Soubise; Géraldine Piorkowski; Rayane Amaral; Madeleine Carrara; Albin Fontaine; Arnaud Tarantola; Gilda Grard; Guillaume André Durand; Lucie Fournier; Marie-Claire Paty; Xavier de Lamballerie; Raphaëlle Klitting

doi:10.1093/jtm/taaf002

Cryptic circulation of chikungunya virus in Côte d'Ivoire revealed by sentinel travellers, 2023-24

J Travel Med. 2025 Oct 1;32(6):taaf002. doi: 10.1093/jtm/taaf002.

Authors

Laura Pezzi^{1

2}, Gabriella Modenesi³, Nazli Ayhan^{1

2}, Laura Verdurme⁴, Ségolène Brichler⁵, Jean-Michel Mansuy⁶, Jacques Izopet^{6

7}, Morgane Mailhe^{8

9}, Sylvie Lariven⁹, Alexandre Duvignaud^{10

11}, Nael Zemali¹², Christophe Ramière^{13

14}, Vinca Icard¹⁴, Véronique Bravy¹⁵, Nelly Fournet³, Ayoub Idrissi¹⁶, Aurélien Zhu-Soubise¹⁶, Géraldine Piorkowski², Rayane Amaral², Madeleine Carrara¹⁷, Albin Fontaine^{2

18}, Arnaud Tarantola³, Gilda Grard^{1

2}, Guillaume André Durand^{1

2}, Lucie Fournier³, Marie-Claire Paty³, Xavier de Lamballerie^{1

2

17}, Raphaëlle Klitting^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ National Reference Center for Arboviruses, Inserm-IRBA, Marseille, France.
² Unité des Virus Émergents (UVE: Aix-Marseille Univ, Università di Corsica, IRD 190, Inserm 1207, IRBA), Marseille, France.
³ Santé publique France (French National Public Health Agency), Saint-Maurice, France.
⁴ Laboratoire Cerba, Frépillon, France.
⁵ Service de Microbiologie Clinique, Hôpital Avicenne, Assistance Publique - Hôpitaux de Paris, Bobigny, France.
⁶ Laboratoire de Virologie, CHU de Toulouse, Toulouse, France.
⁷ Institut Toulousain des Maladies Infectieuses et Inflammatoires (INFINITY), Inserm UMR1291-CNRS UMR5051, Université Paul Sabatier, Toulouse, France.
⁸ Université Paris Cité, INSERM IAME UMR_1137, Paris, France.
⁹ Infectious Diseases Department, Hôpital Bichat - Claude Bernard, AP-HP, Paris, France.
¹⁰ Global Health in the Global South Research Team-University of Bordeaux, National Institute for Health and Medical Research (INSERM) UMR 1219, French Research Institute for Sustainable Development (IRD) EMR 271, Bordeaux Population Health Research Centre, Bordeaux, France.
¹¹ Department of Infectious Diseases and Tropical Medicine, Division of Tropical Medicine and Clinical International Health, CHU Bordeaux, Hôpital Pellegrin, Bordeaux, France.
¹² Laboratoire de Virologie, CHU Bordeaux, Bordeaux, France.
¹³ CIRI, Centre International de Recherche en Infectiologie, Team VIRIMI, Univ Lyon, Inserm, Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, CNRS, ENS de Lyon, Lyon, France.
¹⁴ Virology Department, Institut des Agents Infectieux, Hôpital de la Croix Rousse, Hospices Civils de Lyon, Lyon, France.
¹⁵ Laboratoire BIOCLINIC INOVIE SELAS Guevalt Aulnay-sous-Bois, France.
¹⁶ Regional Health Agency of Île-de-France (ARS Île-de-France), Saint-Denis, France.
¹⁷ Laboratoire des Infections Virales Aigues et Tropicales, AP-HM Hôpitaux Universitaires de Marseille, Marseille, France.
¹⁸ Institut de Recherche Biomédicale des Armées (IRBA), Unité de Virologie, Marseille, France.

Abstract

Chikungunya virus (CHIKV) is known to circulate in Africa, but there is little evidence of CHIKV transmission in Côte d’Ivoire. Using genomic data, we linked CHIKV cases imported in France from Côte d’Ivoire to a lineage from the West African genotype, likely been circulating in the country since July 2021.

Keywords: Arbovirus; chikungunya; emergence; molecular epidemiology; surveillance.

Abstract

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