Dengue in New Caledonia: Knowledge and Gaps

Abstract

Arboviruses are viruses transmitted to humans by the bite of infected mosquito vectors. Over the last decade, arbovirus circulation has increasingly been detected in New Caledonia (NC), a French island territory located in the subtropical Pacific region. Reliable epidemiological, entomological, virological and climate data have been collected in NC over the last decade. Here, we describe these data and how they inform arboviruses' epidemiological profile. We pinpoint areas which remain to be investigated to fully understand the peculiar epidemiological profile of arbovirus circulation in NC. Further, we discuss the advantages of conducting studies on arboviruses dynamics in NC. Overall, we show that conclusions drawn from observations conducted in NC may inform epidemiological risk assessments elsewhere and may be vital to guide surveillance and response, both in New Caledonia and beyond.

Keywords: Pacific; arbovirus; climate; epidemiology; risk assessment.

Figure 1

Temperatures, precipitations and history of arbovirus circulation and vector densities in New Caledonia, South Pacific region. (A) Summertime and wintertime maps of precipitation (rainbow scale, mm/day) with contours of air temperature (°C). PNG: Papua-New Guinea, AUS: Australia, SI: Solomon Islands; FI: Fiji, NC: New Caledonia. (B) Timeline of arboviruses circulation in New Caledonia between 1971 and 2018 (Source Institut Pasteur in New Caledonia, generated based on the data published by the Health Authorities (https://dass.gouv.nc/votre-sante/documents-rapports-etudes)). (C) Graphical representation of the monthly average numbers of larvae and pupae per house in Noumea between 2008 and 2018. Error bars indicate the 95% confidence intervals. Incidence rates expressed as the number of cases per 1000 inhabitants per month are indicated for dengue, Zika and chikungunya (http://www.institutpasteur.nc/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/).