Longitudinal seroprevalence of Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus in Southern Uganda
Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever (CCHF) is a tick-borne disease endemic to many regions of Africa, the Middle East, Southeast Asia and the Balkans. Caused by the CCHF virus (CCHFV), CCHF has been a recognized cause of illness in Uganda since the 1950s and recently, more intensive surveillance suggests CCHFV is widely endemic within the country. Most surveillance has been focused on the Ugandan cattle corridor due to the risk of CCHFV exposure associated with livestock practices. Here we evaluated the seroprevalence of CCHFV in several Southern Ugandan communities outside the cattle corridor combined with longitudinal sample sets to measure the immune response to CCHFV for up to a decade. Interestingly, across three community types, agrarian, trading and fishing, we detected CCHFV seroprevalence in all three but found the highest seroprevalence in fishing communities. We also measured consistent CCHFV-specific antibody responses for up to a decade. Our findings support the conclusion that CCHFV is widely endemic in Uganda and highlight that additional communities may be at risk for CCHFV exposure.
Authors
- Robert Ssekubugu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1245-4774)
- Denis K. Byarugaba (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4175-5659)
- Kyle Rosenke (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8101-4348)
- Jonah Omooja
- David W. Hawman (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8233-8176)
- Ruy M. Ribeiro (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3988-8241)
- Ronald Moses Galiwango (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3702-5722)
- Heinz Feldmann (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9448-8227)
- Carmen Molina-Parı́s (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9828-6737)
- M. Kate Grabowski (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4451-3436)
- Victor Ssempijja (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2609-6525)
- Steven J. Reynolds (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5403-2759)
- Evan A. Mihalakakos
- Gerald Katushabe
- Josephine Nalwadda
Institutions
- Los Alamos National Laboratory (US)
- Johns Hopkins University (US)
- Rakai Health Sciences Program (UG)
- National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (US)
- Makerere University (UG)
- Uganda Virus Research Institute (UG)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Emerging Microbes & Infections
- Published
- 2025-02-13
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1080/22221751.2025.2465315
- Primary Topic
- Viral Infections and Vectors
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
- Public Health Agency
- Folkhälsomyndigheten
- National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism
- National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute
- National Institute of Mental Health
- National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases