High Seroprevalence to Aedes-borne arboviruses in Ethiopia: a Cross-sectional Survey in 2024

Abstract

Aedes-borne diseases infect millions of people each year. In the last decade several arbovirus outbreaks have been reported in Ethiopia. Arbovirus diagnosis and surveillance is lacking and the true burden is unknown. In this study we conducted a seroprevalence survey using a commercially available test kit that that tests for immunological responses to IgM and IgG for dengue (DENV), Zika (ZIKV), and chikungunya (CHIKV) viruses in Dire Dawa city, eastern Ethiopia. We found a high IgG seroprevalence for DENV (76%), CHIKV (44%), and ZIKV (38%), and <20% IgM seropositivity across all viruses. As a comparison, we conducted serosurveillance in Addis Ababa, the national capital with no reported history of arbovirus outbreaks. The highest seropositivity we found was to IgM for DENGV at approximately 3%. Our results suggest both past and recent widespread exposure to these arboviruses, underscoring the need for improved surveillance and public health interventions in Ethiopia.

Keywords: Aedes aegypti; Ethiopia; Zika; arbovirus; chikungunya; dengue; seroprevalence.

Figure 1:

Age specific probability of IgG and IgM seropositivity from the GEE models

Figure 2:

Spearman correlation matrix for correlations between IgG and IgM for each arbovirus