Jalali Tahmineh, Pouriayevali Mohammad Hasan, Sajadi Marzyie, Gerdooei Sepideh, Mohammadi Tahereh, Tavakoli Mahsa, Khakifirouz Sahar, Farhan Asadi Laya, Shamas Nosrati Mohammad Sadegh, Eybpoosh Sana, Salehi-Vaziri Mostafa
Department of Arboviruses and Viral Hemorrhagic Fevers (National Reference Laboratory), Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran.
Department of Neurosciences, Rehabilitation, Ophthalmology, Genetics, Maternal and Child Health, University of Genoa, Genoa, Italy.
IJID Reg. 2025 Feb 1;14:100593. doi: 10.1016/j.ijregi.2025.100593. eCollection 2025 Mar.
Recent outbreaks of dengue, chikungunya, and Zika have underscored the growing threat to public health. This study retrospectively describes the presence of these viruses among febrile travelers entering Iran between 2015 and 2021. Although Iran had no local transmission until 2024, several factors increased the risk of outbreaks, including the presence of mosquito vectors, favorable climate, and inadequate traveler control measures. Climate change and increased humidity have further increased this risk.
A multiplex real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction assay was used to screen 245 serum samples from febrile travelers, identifying dengue and chikungunya viruses in 13.9% of the travelers.
Dengue was more prevalent (9%) than chikungunya (4.9%), but no Zika infections were detected. Genetic analysis identified three dengue virus (DENV) serotypes (DENV-1, DENV-2, and DENV-3) and an Asian genotype of chikungunya virus-like strains from the 2017 outbreak in Pakistan. Pakistan was the primary source of chikungunya (100%) and a significant source of dengue (37%). Travelers from Southeast Asia also contributed to the remaining dengue cases.
This study highlights the risk of importing dengue and chikungunya viruses into Iran, particularly through the land border with Pakistan. The endemicity of these viruses in neighboring countries and high cross-border movement significantly increase the risk of outbreaks in Iran.
近期登革热、基孔肯雅热和寨卡病毒的爆发凸显了对公共卫生日益增长的威胁。本研究回顾性描述了2015年至2021年间进入伊朗的发热旅行者中这些病毒的存在情况。尽管伊朗直到2024年才出现本地传播，但包括蚊媒存在、适宜气候和旅行者防控措施不足等几个因素增加了爆发风险。气候变化和湿度增加进一步加大了这种风险。
采用多重实时逆转录-聚合酶链反应检测法对245份发热旅行者的血清样本进行筛查，在13.9%的旅行者中鉴定出登革热和基孔肯雅热病毒。
登革热比基孔肯雅热更普遍（9%对4.9%），但未检测到寨卡病毒感染。基因分析从2017年巴基斯坦爆发中鉴定出三种登革热病毒（DENV）血清型（DENV-1、DENV-2和DENV-3）以及基孔肯雅热病毒样毒株的亚洲基因型。巴基斯坦是基孔肯雅热的主要来源（100%）和登革热的重要来源（37%）。来自东南亚的旅行者也导致了其余的登革热病例。
本研究强调了将登革热和基孔肯雅热病毒输入伊朗的风险，特别是通过与巴基斯坦的陆地边境。这些病毒在邻国的地方性流行以及高跨境流动显著增加了伊朗爆发疫情的风险。
