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Estimation of mosquito-borne and sexual transmission of Zika virus in Australia_ Risks to blood transfusion safety2.74 MB
Published VersionCC BY V4.0, Open Access
Journal article
Estimation of mosquito-borne and sexual transmission of Zika virus in Australia: Risks to blood transfusion safety
PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, Vol.14(7), pp.1-25
2020
Abstract
Background:
Since 2015, Zika virus (ZIKV) outbreaks have occurred in the Americas and the Pacific involving mosquito-borne and sexual transmission. ZIKV has also emerged as a risk to global blood transfusion safety. Aedes aegypti, a mosquito well established in north and some parts of central and southern Queensland, Australia, transmits ZIKV. Aedes albopictus, another potential ZIKV vector, is a threat to mainland Australia. Since these conditions create the potential for local transmission in Australia and a possible uncertainty in the effectiveness of blood donor risk-mitigation programs, we investigated the possible impact of mosquito-borne and sexual transmission of ZIKV in Australia on local blood transfusion safety.
Methodology/Principal findings:
We estimated ‘best-’ and ‘worst-’ case scenarios of monthly reproduction number (R0) for both transmission pathways of ZIKV from 1996–2015 in 11 urban or regional population centres, by varying epidemiological and entomological estimates. We then estimated the attack rate and subsequent number of infectious people to quantify the ZIKV transfusion transmission risk using the European Up-Front Risk Assessment Tool. For all scenarios and with both vector species R0 was lower than one for ZIKV transmission. However, a higher risk of a sustained outbreak was estimated for Cairns, Rockhampton, Thursday Island, and theoretically in Darwin during the warmest months of the year. The yearly estimation of the risk of transmitting ZIKV infection by blood transfusion remained low through the study period for all locations, with the highest potential risk estimated in Darwin.
Conclusions/Significance:
Given the increasing demand for plasma products in Australia, the current strategy of restricting donors returning from infectious disease outbreak regions to source plasma collection provides a simple and effective risk management approach. However, if local transmission was suspected in the main urban centres of Australia, potentially facilitated by the geographic range expansion of Ae. aegypti or Ae. albopictus, this mitigation strategy would need urgent review.
Details
- Title
- Estimation of mosquito-borne and sexual transmission of Zika virus in Australia: Risks to blood transfusion safety
- Authors
- Elvina Viennet (Author) - Queensland University of TechnologyFrancesca D Frentiu (Author) - Queensland University of TechnologyCraig R Williams (Author) - University of South AustraliaGina Mincham (Author) - University of South AustraliaCassie C Jansen (Author) - Queensland HealthBrian L Montgomery (Author) - Metro South HealthRobert L P Flower (Author) - Queensland University of TechnologyHelen M Faddy (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, School of Health and Sport Sciences - Legacy
- Publication details
- PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, Vol.14(7), pp.1-25
- Publisher
- Public Library of Science
- Date published
- 2020
- DOI
- 10.1371/journal.pntd.0008438
- ISSN
- 1935-2735
- Copyright note
- Copyright: © 2020 Viennet et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
- Organisation Unit
- School of Health - Biomedicine; School of Health; School of Health and Sport Sciences - Legacy; School of Health and Behavioural Sciences - Legacy
- Language
- English
- Record Identifier
- 99465405802621
- Output Type
- Journal article
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- Domestic collaboration
- Web Of Science research areas
- Infectious Diseases
- Parasitology
- Tropical Medicine
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