Epidemiologic investigation of a family cluster of imported ZIKV cases in Guangdong, China: probable human-to-human transmission.
Zika virus (ZIKV) is an emerging mosquito-borne flavivirus that can potentially threaten South China. A Chinese family of four returning from Venezuela to China was found to be positive for ZIKV when the youngest son's fever was first detected at an airport immigration inspection. They were isolated temporarily in a local hospital in Enping city, Guangdong province, where their clinical data were recorded and urine and saliva were collected to isolate ZIKV and to obtain viral sequences. All of them except the mother presented mild symptoms of rash and fever. Envelope gene sequences from the father, daughter and son were completely identical. Phylogenetic analysis demonstrated that this strain is similar to several imported strains reported in recent months, which are all clustered into a group isolated from 2015 ZIKA outbreaks in Brazil. Together with the climatic features in Venezuela, New York and Guangdong in February, it can be concluded that our subjects are imported cases from Venezuela. With the same viral sequence being shared between family members, neither direct human-to-human nor vector transmission can be ruled out in this study, but the former seems more likely. Although our subjects had mild illness, epidemiologists and public health officials should be aware of the risk of further expansion of ZIKV transmission by local competent vectors.
Guangzhou Institute of Pediatrics, Guangzhou Women and Children's Medical Center, Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou 510623, China.
Yingxian
Y
Yin
Department of Infectious Diseases, Guangzhou Women and Children's Medical Center, Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou 510623, China.
Yi
Y
Xu
Guangzhou Institute of Pediatrics, Guangzhou Women and Children's Medical Center, Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou 510623, China.
Ling
L
Su
Key Laboratory of Tropical Disease Control (Sun Yat-sen University), Ministry of Education, Guangzhou 510080, China.
Xun
X
Zhu
Department of Infectious Diseases, Guangzhou Women and Children's Medical Center, Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou 510623, China.
Minxia
M
Chen
Department of Infectious Diseases, Guangzhou Women and Children's Medical Center, Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou 510623, China.
Weijin
W
Zhu
Department of Pediatric Surgery, Guangzhou Women and Children's Medical Center, Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou 510623, China.
Huimin
H
Xia
Key Laboratory of Tropical Disease Control (Sun Yat-sen University), Ministry of Education, Guangzhou 510080, China.
Xi
X
Huang
Department of Gastroenterology, Guangzhou Women and Children's Medical Center, Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou 510623, China.
Sitang
S
Gong
D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D018562:Disease Transmission, Infectious; D005192:Family Health; D006801:Humans; D017720:Molecular Epidemiology; D010356:Patient Isolation; D010802:Phylogeny; D012463:Saliva / Q000821:virology; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D017385:Sequence Homology; D014195:Travel; D014556:Urine / Q000821:virology; D014687:Venezuela; D014759:Viral Envelope Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D000071244:Zika Virus / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D000071243:Zika Virus Infection / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000473:pathology / Q000635:transmission*
D014759:Viral Envelope Proteins