Detection of hepatitis viruses in suspected cases of Viral Haemorrhagic Fevers in Nigeria.

There have been several Viral Hemorrhagic Fever (VHF) outbreaks in Nigeria which remains a public health concern. Despite the increasing number of suspected cases of VHF due to heightened surveillance activities and growing awareness, only a few cases are laboratory-confirmed to be VHF. Routinely, these samples are only tested for Lassa virus and Yellow fever virus with occasional testing for Dengue virus when indicated. The aetiology of the disease in these VHF suspected cases in Nigeria which are negative for Lassa, Yellow fever and Dengue viruses remains a puzzle. Since the clinical features exhibited by suspected VHF cases are like other endemic illnesses such as Hepatitis, there is a need to investigate the diversity and co-infections of hepatitis viruses as differentials and possible co-morbidity in suspected cases of VHFs in Nigeria. A total of three hundred and fifty (350) blood samples of 212 (60.6%) males and 138 (39.4%) females, aged <1-70 years with a mean age of 25 ±14.5, suspected of VHFs and tested negative for Lassa, Yellow fever and Dengue viruses were investigated for Hepatitis A, B, C and E viruses at the Centre for Human and Zoonotic Virology (CHAZVY), College of Medicine, University of Lagos (CMUL) using serologic and molecular techniques. The serologic analysis of these VHF suspected cases samples revealed that 126 (36%) were positive for at least one hepatitis virus. Individual prevalence for each of the hepatitis virus screened for showed that 37 (10.6%), 18 (5.1%) and 71 (20.3%) were positive for HBV, HCV and HEV respectively. All the samples were negative for HAV. A co-infection rate of 11.9% was also observed, with HCV/HEV co-infections being the most prevalent and the Northern region having the greatest burden of infection. The evidence of hepatitis virus infections in suspected cases of VHF was documented. Thus, their associations as co-morbidities and/or mortalities in this category of individuals require further investigations in endemic countries such as Nigeria. Therefore, the possible inclusion of screening for hepatitis viruses and other aetiologic agents that could mimic infections in suspected cases of VHFs in Nigeria should be thoroughly evaluated to guide informed policy on the diagnosis and management of these cases.

Zoonotic and reverse zoonotic transmission of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2: a review and implications for Africa.

There is an urgent need to properly understand the transmission dynamics of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in the event of continuous rise in morbidity in both humans and animals as well as an increase in the mortality rate in man. Since the novel SARS-CoV-2 emerged in Wuhan, China with its global spread in over 200 countries, several studies have been published on the epidemiology of the virus in man with limited information on the roles of animals and the possibility of reverse zoonosis. We therefore collected published research literature on COVID-19 from public search engines for information on SARS-CoV-2 in animals and reverse zoonosis from man. A critical and thorough study appraisal/evaluation was performed to include recent quality publications that focus on the scope of this write-up including zoonosis and reverse zoonosis of SARS-CoV-2. We highlighted what is known about SARS-CoV-2 in animals, identify gaps for future research, summarized possible reverse zoonotic transmission of SARS-CoV-2 from man to animals and included the likely implications of our summary for Africa, despite the dearth of information in Africa on the key concepts of this study.