Immunological evidence of Zika virus transmission in Thailand

Nitwara Wikan; Yupin Suputtamongkol; Sutee Yoksan; Duncan R Smith; Prasert Auewarakul

doi:10.1016/j.apjtm.2016.01.017

Immunological evidence of Zika virus transmission in Thailand

Asian Pac J Trop Med. 2016 Feb;9(2):141-4. doi: 10.1016/j.apjtm.2016.01.017. Epub 2016 Jan 13.

Authors

Nitwara Wikan¹, Yupin Suputtamongkol², Sutee Yoksan¹, Duncan R Smith³, Prasert Auewarakul²

Affiliations

¹ Institute of Molecular Biosciences, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand.
² Faculty of Medicine, Siriraj Hospital, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand.
³ Institute of Molecular Biosciences, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand. Electronic address: duncan_r_smith@hotmail.com.

PMID: 26919943
DOI: 10.1016/j.apjtm.2016.01.017

Abstract

Objective: To identify immunological evidence of Zika virus transmission in Thailand.

Methods: To undertake a preliminary serosurvey of possible exposure to Zika virus, 21 serum samples from cohort of acute undifferentiated fever patients were examined for immunoreactivity to Zika, Dengue, Japanese encephalitis and Chikungunya envelope antigens by Western blot analysis.

Results: Twenty of the 21 serum samples showed immunoreactivity to at least one of the antigens, with seven samples showing immunoreactivity to all antigens. Of particular note, two serum samples showed immunoreactivity only to Zika envelope antigen, with no immunoreactivity to other envelope antigens.

Conclusions: This study presents the first evidence of Zika virus transmission in Thailand, although as yet the relationship between transmission and possible cases of Zika fever in Thailand requires further investigation.

Keywords: Emerging infectious diseases; Serosurvey; Thailand; Zika virus.