Systematic Review of Important Viral Diseases in Africa in Light of the ‘One Health’ Concept
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
pathogens Article Systematic Review of Important Viral Diseases in Africa in Light of the ‘One Health’ Concept Ravendra P. Chauhan 1 , Zelalem G. Dessie 2,3 , Ayman Noreddin 4,5 and Mohamed E. El Zowalaty 4,6,7,* 1 School of Laboratory Medicine and Medical Sciences, College of Health Sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban 4001, South Africa; [email protected] 2 School of Mathematics, Statistics and Computer Science, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban 4001, South Africa; [email protected] 3 Department of Statistics, College of Science, Bahir Dar University, Bahir Dar 6000, Ethiopia 4 Infectious Diseases and Anti-Infective Therapy Research Group, Sharjah Medical Research Institute and College of Pharmacy, University of Sharjah, Sharjah 27272, UAE; [email protected] 5 Department of Medicine, School of Medicine, University of California, Irvine, CA 92868, USA 6 Zoonosis Science Center, Department of Medical Biochemistry and Microbiology, Uppsala University, SE 75185 Uppsala, Sweden 7 Division of Virology, Department of Infectious Diseases and St. Jude Center of Excellence for Influenza Research and Surveillance (CEIRS), St Jude Children Research Hospital, Memphis, TN 38105, USA * Correspondence: [email protected] Received: 17 February 2020; Accepted: 7 April 2020; Published: 20 April 2020 Abstract: Emerging and re-emerging viral diseases are of great public health concern. The recent emergence of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) related coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) in December 2019 in China, which causes COVID-19 disease in humans, and its current spread to several countries, leading to the first pandemic in history to be caused by a coronavirus, highlights the significance of zoonotic viral diseases. Rift Valley fever, rabies, West Nile, chikungunya, dengue, yellow fever, Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever, Ebola, and influenza viruses among many other viruses have been reported from different African countries. The paucity of information, lack of knowledge, limited resources, and climate change, coupled with cultural traditions make the African continent a hotspot for vector-borne and zoonotic viral diseases, which may spread globally. Currently, there is no information available on the status of virus diseases in Africa. This systematic review highlights the available information about viral diseases, including zoonotic and vector-borne diseases, reported in Africa. The findings will help us understand the trend of emerging and re-emerging virus diseases within the African continent. The findings recommend active surveillance of viral diseases and strict implementation of One Health measures in Africa to improve human public health and reduce the possibility of potential pandemics due to zoonotic viruses. Keywords: Africa; emerging; re-emerging; infectious diseases; pandemic; SARS-CoV-2; COVID-19; virus; zoonosis; vector-borne; avian influenza; influenza A virus; coronaviruses; monkeypox; simian immunodeficiency; rabies; dengue; hemorrhagic fever; Rift Valley fever virus; West Nile virus; Ebola; one health; epidemiology 1. Introduction Africa is a large continent comprising 54 countries including some of the island nations within its geography. Various vector-borne and zoonotic virus diseases were reported from several African countries. Africa has a tropical climate, which enforces great diversity in its flora and fauna across the continent. The tropical climate, scarcity of resources, rampant poverty, and lack of knowledge coupled Pathogens 2020, 9, 301; doi:10.3390/pathogens9040301 www.mdpi.com/journal/pathogens Pathogens 2020, 9, 301 2 of 83 with cultural and traditional rituals and practices put many countries in the African continent at the edge of virus disease outbreaks. The high density of forest area and the tribes living within these forests mainly in west Africa, where human–animal conflicts are frequently encountered, put the communities at risk of disease progression and dissemination. One of the most challenging viruses, the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), was reported to be transmitted to hunter gatherers in the forests of west Africa after conflicts with non-human primates during hunting for bushmeat. The Pygmy and Bantu tribes living within the forests in Western Africa have witnessed rampant infections of HIV [1]. The Ebola virus disease outbreak remains a global challenge and has recently been reported from several west African countries. An Ebola outbreak in non-human primates (chimpanzee and gorilla) as well as in the human population was reported from west Africa between 1994 and 2002 [2]. During the current Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo, as of 4 March 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) has identified a total of 3444 Ebola cases, including 3310 confirmed cases and 134 probable cases. A staggeringly high mortality rate of 65.74% was observed in Ebola cases, with 2264 deaths reported so far [3]. A total of 1169 survivors are still under active care in the Democratic Republic of Congo [3]. The incidence of animal–human conflict and the close proximity to wild animals in the African wilderness were thought to be the primary factors behind the disease progression; however, human-to-human contact is another crucial factor for further disease dissemination [2]. Monkeypox is another zoonotic viral disease with a high prevalence in west Africa. The dependence of the local population on bushmeat is one of the major driving factors behind the spread of monkeypox in west Africa. Apart from this, exposure to the body fluids of infected individuals is another mode of human-to-human transmission of the disease [4]. Other parts of Africa have also reported different zoonotic virus diseases, including Rift Valley fever (RVFV), Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever (CCHFV), West Nile virus (WNV) disease, avian influenza, and rabies among several other viral diseases [5–10]. Countries all over Africa have reported different avian diseases affecting domestic and wild birds. Avian influenza is one of the most widely distributed avian viral diseases, which causes great economic losses to the poultry industry and an incipient threat to humans in the entire of Africa. The involvement of wild birds and waterfowls in the spread of avian influenza is well proven [11]. Various species of waterfowls though notably those belonging to the orders of Anseriformes and Charadriiformes have been reported to be the reservoir of avian influenza viruses [12]. IAV infections in wild birds and poultry have been reported from several African countries, including South Africa [5,13–15]. A recent incidence of highly pathogenic avian influenza virus (HPAIV) in an ostrich farm located in Western Cape Province of South Africa almost decimated the ostrich industry in South Africa [16]. Migratory wild birds have been reported to be responsible for the long-distance dissemination of highly-pathogenic avian influenza virus (HPAIV) subtype H5N1 [17]. Long-distance migration of wild birds is an important factor in the spread of avian influenza across the African continent [18]. Migratory waterfowls from European countries overwinter in the Rift Valley of Kenya, which is known as one of the favorite destinations of migratory birds for over-wintering [19]. The identification of a novel avian influenza virus H4N6 subtype from Kenya suggested that migratory water birds could act as a potential source of avian influenza transmission given that there was no earlier report of H4N6 subtype from the African continent [19]. Since influenza virus strains can cross the species barrier and therefore may emerge as new strains and recombination, they have a broader host range. It is suggested that the segmented nature of the influenza A virus genome may facilitate its evolution through re-assortment and mutation, and through these mechanisms, viruses would switch between hosts or find a new host and adapt or evolve in the new host [20,21]. Apart from poultry, swine farming is another large-scale industry in the African continent. The challenging aspect of swine farming is that swine are known to be a ‘mixing vessel’ for several viruses, including influenza viruses, which are reported to cause disease outbreaks in swine as well as in humans [20–23]. The evolutionary history of swine influenza viruses has been thoroughly investigated and reflects multiple introductions of these viruses into swine populations from other Pathogens 2020, 9, 301 3 of 83 species [24,25]. Pigs are reported to be susceptible to influenza virus infection with both human as well as avian strains of the virus, and most interestingly, have been reported to be an important host for virus ecology and interspecies transmission of the virus [26–28]. The 2009 swine influenza H1N1 virus pandemic is thought to have originated from the avian strain, which was introduced into swine and further transmitted to humans [20,23]. There are various reports available on the incidence of influenza viruses worldwide, but only limited information is available from the African continent. Influenza A virus has recently been reported from pigs in Kenya [29]. Interestingly, pigs have recently been reported to be infected with the HPAIV H5N1 subtype in Nigeria [30] and with the 2009 pandemic H1N1 virus in Nigeria, Ghana [31], Cameroon [32], and Togo [33]. Interestingly, swine were found positive for the HPAI H5N1 subtype and low pathogenic avian influenza virus (LPAIV) H9N2 subtype in Egypt during 2014–2015 [34]. Currently, there is no information available on the prevalence of influenza viruses