SARS-CoV-2 cross-sectional serosurvey across three HIV-1 therapeutic clinical trials in Africa.

Objective: Data on the impact of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in people with HIV (PWH) are lacking in resource-constrained settings. We utilized existing randomized clinical trials (RCTs) on antiretroviral therapies (ART) in HIV-1 infection to conduct a severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) serosurvey, between January and March 2021, while characterizing participants' features.

Design: Cross-sectional serosurvey.

Ebola virus circulation in a non-epidemic Guinean rural area: A mixed-method approach to assessing endemicity.

Objectives: This study aimed to investigate the prevalence of orthoebolavirus antibodies in Madina Oula, a non-epidemic rural area in Guinea, in 2022.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted from March 14 to April 3, 2022 involving recording household and socio-demographic characteristics, lifestyle data, and collecting dried blood spots from 878 individuals in 235 households. Dried blood spots were tested using multiplex serology to detect antibodies to different orthoebolaviruses: Ebola virus, Bundibugyo virus, Sudan virus, Reston virus, and Bombali virus.

Effect of anti-Ebola virus monoclonal antibodies on endogenous antibody production in survivors of Ebola virus disease in the Democratic Republic of the Congo: an observational cohort study.

Background: The use of specific anti-Ebola virus therapy, especially monoclonal antibodies, has improved survival in patients with Ebola virus disease. We aimed to assess the effect of monoclonal antibodies on anti-Ebola virus antibody responses in survivors of the 2018-20 Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Methods: In this observational prospective cohort study, participants were enrolled at three Ebola survivor clinics in Beni, Mangina, and Butembo (Democratic Republic of the Congo).

Extensive Survey and Analysis of Factors Associated with Presence of Antibodies to Orthoebolaviruses in Bats from West and Central Africa.

The seroprevalence to orthoebolaviruses was studied in 9594 bats (5972 frugivorous and 3622 insectivorous) from Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Guinea, with a Luminex-based serological assay including recombinant antigens of four species. Seroprevalence is expressed as a range according to different cut-off calculations. Between 6.

Use of Mpox Multiplex Serology in the Identification of Cases and Outbreak Investigations in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

Human Mpox cases are increasingly reported in Africa, with the highest burden in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). While case reporting on a clinical basis can overestimate infection rates, laboratory confirmation by PCR can underestimate them, especially on suboptimal samples like blood, commonly used in DRC. Here we used a Luminex-based assay to evaluate whether antibody testing can be complementary to confirm cases and to identify human transmission chains during outbreak investigations.

Interest of seroprevalence surveys for the epidemiological surveillance of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic in African populations: Insights from the ARIACOV project in Benin.

Background: Many SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence surveys since the end of 2020 have disqualified the first misconception that Africa had been spared by the pandemic. Through the analysis of three SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence surveys carried out in Benin as part of the ARIACOV project, we argue that the integration of epidemiological serosurveillance of the SARS-CoV-2 infection in the national surveillance packages would be of great use to refine the understanding of the COVID-19 pandemic in Africa.

Methods: We carried out three repeated cross-sectional surveys in Benin: two in Cotonou, the economic capital in March and May 2021, and one in Natitingou, a semi-rural city in the north of the country in August 2021.

Large Diffusion of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 After the Successive Epidemiological Waves, Including Omicron, in Guinea and Cameroon: Implications for Vaccine Strategies.

Background: We aimed to estimate the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) seroprevalence among the general population in Conakry, Guinea and Yaounde, Cameroon after the coronavirus disease 2019 Omicron wave.

Methods: We conducted population-based, age-stratified seroprevalence surveys in Conakry and Yaounde (May and June 2022). We collected demographic and epidemiologic information and dried blood spot samples that were tested for SARS-CoV-2 immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibodies using recombinant nucleocapsid and spike proteins with Luminex technology.

Serological Evidence of Zika Virus Circulation in Burkina Faso.

Zika virus (ZIKV) and dengue virus (DENV) are two closely related members of the family, both transmitted by mosquitoes of the genus , and are among the arboviruses most at risk to human health. Burkina Faso has been facing an upsurge in DENV outbreaks since 2013. Unlike DENV, there is no serological evidence of ZIKV circulation in humans in Burkina Faso.

Temporal evolution of the humoral antibody response after Ebola virus disease in Guinea: a 60-month observational prospective cohort study.

Background: Insufficient long-term data are available on antibody kinetics in survivors of Ebola virus disease (EVD). Likewise, few studies, with very small sample sizes, have investigated cross-reactions between Ebolavirus spp. In this study, we aimed to assess the humoral antibody response and its determinants in survivors of EVD and assess cross-reactivity of antibodies between diverse Ebolavirus spp.

Rapid Increase of Community SARS-CoV-2 Seroprevalence during Second Wave of COVID-19, Yaoundé, Cameroon.

We conducted 2 independent population-based SARS-CoV-2 serosurveys in Yaoundé, Cameroon, during January 27-February 6 and April 24-May 19, 2021. Overall age-standardized SARS-CoV-2 IgG seroprevalence increased from 18.6% in the first survey to 51.

Seroprevalence of IgG Antibodies Against Multiple Arboviruses in Bats from Cameroon, Guinea, and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Emergence of mosquito-borne arboviruses has caused significant public health burden. The life cycle of arboviruses comprises sylvatic and urban cycles, including a wildlife reservoir, a human host, and an arthropod vector. However, many questions remain on the sylvatic cycles of arboviruses.

Dynamics of Antibodies to Ebolaviruses in an Bat Colony in Cameroon.

The ecology of ebolaviruses is still poorly understood and the role of bats in outbreaks needs to be further clarified. Straw-colored fruit bats () are the most common fruit bats in Africa and antibodies to ebolaviruses have been documented in this species. Between December 2018 and November 2019, samples were collected at approximately monthly intervals in roosting and feeding sites from 820 bats from an colony.

Added Value of an Anti-Ebola Serology for the Management of Clinically Suspected Ebola Virus Disease Patients Discharged as Negative in an Epidemic Context.

Background: Survivors from Ebola virus disease (EVD) may be at the origin of EVD resurgence.

Methods: Simultaneous reactivity to at least 2 Ebola virus or Zaire ebolavirus (EBOV) antigens was detected in 11 of 488 (2.3%; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.

Investigating the Circulation of Ebola Viruses in Bats during the Ebola Virus Disease Outbreaks in the Equateur and North Kivu Provinces of the Democratic Republic of Congo from 2018.

With 12 of the 31 outbreaks, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is highly affected by Ebolavirus disease (EVD). To better understand the role of bats in the ecology of Ebola viruses, we conducted surveys in bats during two recent EVD outbreaks and in two areas with previous outbreaks. Dried blood spots were tested for antibodies to ebolaviruses and oral and rectal swabs were screened for the presence of filovirus using a broadly reactive semi-nested RT-PCR.

Wide Diversity of Coronaviruses in Frugivorous and Insectivorous Bat Species: A Pilot Study in Guinea, West Africa.

Zoonoses can constitute a threat for public health that can have a global importance, as seen with the current COVID-19 pandemic of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV2). Bats have been recognized as an important reservoir of zoonotic coronaviruses (CoVs). In West Africa, where there is a high diversity of bat species, little is known on the circulation of CoVs in these hosts, especially at the interface with human populations.

Multiplex detection and dynamics of IgG antibodies to SARS-CoV2 and the highly pathogenic human coronaviruses SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV.

Background: Knowledge of the COVID-19 epidemic extent and the level of herd immunity is urgently needed to help manage this pandemic.

Methods: We used a panel of 167 samples (77 pre-epidemic and 90 COVID-19 seroconverters) and SARS-CoV1, SARS-CoV2 and MERS-CoV Spike and/or Nucleopcapsid (NC) proteins to develop a high throughput multiplex screening assay to detect IgG antibodies in human plasma. Assay performances were determined by ROC curves analysis.

Serological Evidence of Ebola Virus Infection in Rural Guinea before the 2014 West African Epidemic Outbreak.

Questions remain as to whether an unnoticed Ebola outbreak occurred in Guinea before the 2014-2016 epidemic. To address this, we used a highly sensitive and specific Luminex-based assay for Ebola virus (EBOV) antibody detection to screen blood samples collected in the framework of the Demographic Health Survey performed in 2012 in Guinea. One sample (GF069) of 1,483 tested was positive at very high immunoglobulin G titer to Zaire EBOV in Guinée Forestière.