Real-time Metagenomic Analysis of Undiagnosed Fever Cases Unveils a Yellow Fever Outbreak in Edo State, Nigeria

Fehintola Victoria Ajogbasile; Judith Uche Oguzie; Paul E. Oluniyi; Philomena Eromon; Jessica N. Uwanibe; Samar B. Mehta; Katherine J. Siddle; Ikponmwosa Odia; Sarah M. Winnicki; Nosa Akpede; George O. Akpede; Sylvanus Akhalufo Okogbenin; Ephraim Ogbaini-Emovon; Bronwyn L. MacInnis; Onikepe A. Folarin; Kayvon Modjarrad; Stephen F. Schaffner; Oyewale Tomori; Chikwe A Ihekweazu; Pardis Christine Sabeti; Christian Tientcha Happi

doi:10.1038/s41598-020-59880-w

GenomicsScientific ReportsFeb 21, 2020

Peer-reviewed journal article

Real-time Metagenomic Analysis of Undiagnosed Fever Cases Unveils a Yellow Fever Outbreak in Edo State, Nigeria

Fehintola Victoria Ajogbasile iD, Judith Uche Oguzie iD, Paul E. Oluniyi iD, Philomena Eromon, Jessica N. Uwanibe iD, Samar B. Mehta iD, Katherine J. Siddle iD, Ikponmwosa Odia iD, Sarah M. Winnicki, Nosa Akpede, George O. Akpede iD, Sylvanus Akhalufo Okogbenin iD, Ephraim Ogbaini-Emovon iD, Bronwyn L. MacInnis iD, Onikepe A. Folarin iD, Kayvon Modjarrad iD, Stephen F. Schaffner iD, Oyewale Tomori iD, Chikwe A Ihekweazu iD, Pardis Christine Sabeti iD, Christian Tientcha Happi iD

Abstract

We report here the use of metagenomic sequencing to identify and characterize yellow fever virus (YFV) in a cluster of undiagnosed febrile patients from Edo State, Nigeria. Yellow fever, an acute mosquito-borne viral haemorrhagic fever, re-emerged in Nigeria in 2017 after decades of relative control.1 Once a major public health concern in the region,2 the prolonged absence of yellow fever has left a gap in knowledge about circulating virus and lowered clinical suspicion for a disease whose spectrum overlaps with endemic infections (e.g., malaria and Lassa fever). In this context, metagenomic sequencing can be a powerful tool for identifying and tracking pathogens causing infectious disease.3\n\nPlasma samples from thirteen epidemiologically-linked patients with unexplained, often fatal, fever were sent from Irrua Specialist Teaching Hospital to the African Center of Excellence for Genomics of ...

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