Dengue Virus Serotype 2 Established in Northern Mozambique (2015­2016)

ABSTRACT

After the report of an outbreak of dengue virus serotype 2 in 2014 in Nampula and Pemba cities, northernMozambique, a surveillance system was established by the National Institute of Health. A study was performed during2015­2016 to monitor the trend of the outbreak and confirm the circulating serotype of dengue virus (DENV). After theinclusion of consenting patients who met the case definition, samples from 192 patients were tested for the presence ofnonstructural protein1antigen,and60/192(31%)sampleswerepositive.FurtheranalysisincludedDENVIgMantibodies,with 39 (20%) IgM positive cases. Reverse transcriptase (RT) PCR was performed for identification of the prevailing DENVserotype; 21/23 tested samples were DENV-2 positive, with DENV-2 present in both affected cities. When sequencingDENV, phenotype Cosmopolitan was identified. The surveillance indicates ongoing spread of DENV-2 in northernMozambique 2 years after thefirst report of the outbreak.