Serological evidence of arboviral infections among humans of coastal Kenya

Abstract

A serosurvey was conducted during September 1987 for evidence of human arboviral infections in the Coast Province of Kenya. Sera were collected from 1624 outpatients at three hospitals and tested for antibody to eight arboviruses by the indirect immunofluorescent antibody technique. Antibody prevalence rates were: Rift Valley fever, 2.8%; Sindbis, 2.6%; dugbe, 2.1%; dengue-2, 1.0%; West Nile, 0.9%; chikungunya, 0.7% and Nairobi sheep disease, 0.3%. Evidence of Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever viral antibody was not detected. The data suggested low arbovirus activity since 1982, when an epidemic of dengue occurred in this region, and revealed the first evidence of dugbe viral infection among humans in Kenya.