Yi Zhang1, Fei Ye1, Lian Xu Xia2, Ling Wei Zhu3, Idrissa Laybohr Kamara4, Ke Qiang Huang5, Yong Zhang5, Jun Liu5, Brima Kargbo6, Ji Wang5, Mi Fang Liang5, Jing Dong Song1, Xue Jun Ma7, Gui Zhen Wu5. 1. National Institute for Viral Disease Control and Prevention, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing 102206, China; Sierra Leone-China Friendship Biological Safety Laboratory, Freetown, Sierra-Leone. 2. Sierra Leone-China Friendship Biological Safety Laboratory, Freetown, Sierra-Leone; National Institute for Communicable Disease Control and Prevention, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing 102206, China. 3. Sierra Leone-China Friendship Biological Safety Laboratory, Freetown, Sierra-Leone; Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing 102206, China. 4. Sierra Leone-China Friendship Biological Safety Laboratory, Freetown, Sierra-Leone. 5. National Institute for Viral Disease Control and Prevention, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing 102206, China. 6. Sierra Leone Ministry of Health and Sanitation Freetown, Sierra-Leone. 7. Key Laboratory of Medical Virology, National Health and Family Planning Commission, National Institute for Viral Disease Control and Prevention, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing 102206, China.
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: People in Western Africa suffer greatly from febrile jaundice, which is caused by a variety of pathogens. However, yellow fever virus (YFV) is the only pathogen under surveillance in Sierra Leone owing to the undeveloped medical and public health system there. Most of the results of YFV identification are negative. Elucidation of the pathogen spectrum is required to reduce the prevalence of febrile jaundice. METHODS: In the present study, we used Ion Torrent semiconductor sequencing to profile the pathogen spectrum in archived YFV-negative sera from 96 patients in Sierra Leone who presented with unexplained febrile jaundice. RESULTS: The most frequently identified sequencing reads belonged to the following pathogens: cytomegalovirus (89.58%), Epstein-Barr virus (55.21%), hepatitis C virus (34.38%), rhinovirus (28.13%), hepatitis A virus (20.83%), coxsackievirus (10.42%), Ebola virus (8.33%), hepatitis E virus (8.33%), lyssavirus (4.17%), leptospirosis (4.17%), chikungunya virus (2.08%), Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus (1.04%), and hepatitis B virus (1.04%). CONCLUSION: The distribution of sequencing reads suggests a broader spectrum of pathogens for consideration in clinical diagnostics and epidemiological surveillance in Sierra Leone.
OBJECTIVE:People in Western Africa suffer greatly from febrile jaundice, which is caused by a variety of pathogens. However, yellow fever virus (YFV) is the only pathogen under surveillance in Sierra Leone owing to the undeveloped medical and public health system there. Most of the results of YFV identification are negative. Elucidation of the pathogen spectrum is required to reduce the prevalence of febrile jaundice. METHODS: In the present study, we used Ion Torrent semiconductor sequencing to profile the pathogen spectrum in archived YFV-negative sera from 96 patients in Sierra Leone who presented with unexplained febrile jaundice. RESULTS: The most frequently identified sequencing reads belonged to the following pathogens: cytomegalovirus (89.58%), Epstein-Barr virus (55.21%), hepatitis C virus (34.38%), rhinovirus (28.13%), hepatitis A virus (20.83%), coxsackievirus (10.42%), Ebola virus (8.33%), hepatitis E virus (8.33%), lyssavirus (4.17%), leptospirosis (4.17%), chikungunya virus (2.08%), Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus (1.04%), and hepatitis B virus (1.04%). CONCLUSION: The distribution of sequencing reads suggests a broader spectrum of pathogens for consideration in clinical diagnostics and epidemiological surveillance in Sierra Leone.