Chikungunya virus disease outbreak in Yap State, Federated States of Micronesia.

Background: Chikungunya virus is a mosquito-borne alphavirus which causes an acute febrile illness associated with polyarthralgia. Beginning in August 2013, clinicians from the Yap State Department of Health in the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) identified an unusual cluster of illness which was subsequently confirmed to be chikungunya virus disease. Chikungunya virus disease previously had not been recognized in FSM.

Aedes hensilli as a potential vector of Chikungunya and Zika viruses.

An epidemic of Zika virus (ZIKV) illness that occurred in July 2007 on Yap Island in the Federated States of Micronesia prompted entomological studies to identify both the primary vector(s) involved in transmission and the ecological parameters contributing to the outbreak. Larval and pupal surveys were performed to identify the major containers serving as oviposition habitat for the likely vector(s). Adult mosquitoes were also collected by backpack aspiration, light trap, and gravid traps at select sites around the capital city.

Improvement of leptospirosis surveillance in remote Pacific islands using serum spotted on filter paper.

Objectives: Leptospirosis is a serious neglected disease in the Pacific. Because sensitive and specific laboratory tests are largely unavailable, the burden of disease and epidemiological data are often unreliable and do not allow informed disease prioritization and efficient control. We report the use of serum spotted on filter paper to improve the surveillance of leptospirosis in remote and resource-limited settings.

Zika virus outbreak on Yap Island, Federated States of Micronesia.

Background: In 2007, physicians on Yap Island reported an outbreak of illness characterized by rash, conjunctivitis, and arthralgia. Although serum from some patients had IgM antibody against dengue virus, the illness seemed clinically distinct from previously detected dengue. Subsequent testing with the use of consensus primers detected Zika virus RNA in the serum of the patients but no dengue virus or other arboviral RNA.

An outbreak of dengue fever in Yap State.

Between May and December 2004,Yap State experienced an outbreak of Dengue Fever, type 1 with a final total of 658 recorded clinically compatible cases, including 42 hospitalisations and 12 cases of dengue haemorrhagic fever/shock syndrome. There were no fatalities. Lessons learned from this outbreak include: the importance maintaining a high index of suspicion and on-site diagnostic capability for dengue fever, the importance of prompt in-service training for health care workers, the danger posed to neighbors by local lapses in outbreak prone disease surveillance and the utility of the Pacific Public Health Surveillance Network in responding to such diseases, the importance of active disease surveillance in outer island populations, and the importance of instituting preventive measures against the nosocomial spread of dengue fever.