Dengue Virus Type 3, South Pacific Islands, 2013 - Volume 20, Number 6—June 2014 - Emerging Infectious Disease journal - CDC

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Dengue Virus Type 3, South Pacific Islands, 2013 - Volume 20, Number 6—June 2014 - Emerging Infectious Disease journal - CDC

Volume 20, Number 6—June 2014

Dispatch

Dengue Virus Type 3, South Pacific Islands, 2013

Article Contents

• The Study
• Conclusions
• Acknowledgment
• References
• Figure 1
• Figure 2
• Suggested Citation

Van-Mai Cao-Lormeau , Claudine Roche, Didier Musso, Henri-Pierre Mallet, Tenneth Dalipanda, Alfred Dofai, Francisco Nogareda, Eric J. Nilles, and John Aaskov

Author affiliations: Institut Louis Malardé, Papeete, Tahiti, French Polynesia (V.-M. Cao-Lormeau, C. Roche, D. Musso); Direction de la Santé, Papeete (H.-P. Mallet); Ministry of Health and Medical Services, Honiara, Solomon Islands (T. Dalipanda); National Referral Hospital, Honiara (A. Dofai); World Health Organization, Suva, Fiji (F. Nogareda, E.J. Nilles); Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia (J. Aaskov)

Suggested citation for this article

Abstract

After an 18-year absence, dengue virus serotype 3 reemerged in the South Pacific Islands in 2013. Outbreaks in western (Solomon Islands) and eastern (French Polynesia) regions were caused by different genotypes. This finding suggested that immunity against dengue virus serotype, rather than virus genotype, was the principal determinant of reemergence.

Figure 1

Figure 1. South Pacific Region showing the study areas (Solomon Islands and French Polynesia) tested for dengue virus type 3.

In contrast to circulation in countries in Southeast Asia, where dengue is hyperendemic and ≤4 dengue virus (DENV) serotypes might co-circulate, it is rare for >1 DENV serotype to sustainably circulate in any South Pacific island country or territory. The pattern of single-serotype predominance has been historically observed in the entire South Pacific region (Figure 1); 1 serotype circulates for 4–5 years before being displaced by another serotype, i.e., DENV-3 (1989–1996), DENV-2 (1996–2000), DENV-1 (2001–2009), and DENV-4 (2008–2009) (1–5). Because DENV-3 had not circulated in the South Pacific Islands since 1996, a large nonimmune human population susceptible to infection with this serotype was present, and it had been suggested that this serotype would reemerge in ≈2012 (4).

In January 2013, an outbreak of DENV-3 infections was reported in the Solomon Islands (6). Two months later, DENV-1 and DENV-3 infections were identified in patients in French Polynesia. DENV-3 isolated in the Solomon Islands belonged to genotype I, and DENV-3 isolated in French Polynesia belonged to genotype III. This finding is an example of dengue outbreaks in the South Pacific Islands caused by introductions of multiple genotypes of the same DENV serotype into susceptible populations in the South Pacific Islands (2), in this instance, genotype I from Southeast Asia and genotype III from South America.

Dr Cao-Lormeau is a research scientist at the Institut Louis Malardé, Papeete, Tahiti, French Polynesia. Her research focuses on the genetic evolution of dengue viruses in Pacific Island countries, in particular, dengue virus intrahost genetic diversity.

Acknowledgment

We thank the staff of the Ministry of Health, Honiara, Solomon Islands, for assisting in the provision of data; and the Medical Laboratory at the National Referral Hospital, Honiara, Solomon Islands, for assisting in provision of diagnostic material and data; and the laboratory staff at the Institut Louis Malardé, French Polynesia, for providing technical support.

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Figures

• Figure 1. South Pacific Region showing the study areas (Solomon Islands and French Polynesia) tested for dengue virus type 3.
• Figure 2. Evolutionary relationships of 54 dengue virus type 3 (DENV-3) gene sequencesThe phylogenetic tree was obtained by using the maximum-likelihood method based on the Kimura 2-parameter model and MEGA 5...

Suggested citation for this article: Cao-Lormeau VM, Roche C, Musso D, Mallet HP, Dalipanda T, Dofai A, et al. Dengue virus type 3, South Pacific Islands, 2013. Emerg Infect Dis [Internet]. 2014 Jun [date cited]. http://dx.doi.org/10.3201/eid2006.131413

DOI: 10.3201/eid2006.131413