Drug Discovery and Development

  • Home Drug Discovery and Development
  • Drug Discovery
  • Women in Pharma and Biotech
  • Oncology
  • Neurological Disease
  • Infectious Disease
  • Resources
    • Video features
    • Podcast
    • Voices
    • Webinars
  • Pharma 50
    • 2025 Pharma 50
    • 2024 Pharma 50
    • 2023 Pharma 50
    • 2022 Pharma 50
    • 2021 Pharma 50
  • Advertise
  • SUBSCRIBE

Study Explores Risk Factors Linked to Chikungunya and Dengue Outbreaks

By University Of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign | July 25, 2018

In a study of 50 years of data relating to chikungunya and dengue outbreaks around Indian Ocean regions, a U. of I. team including, from left, Rebecca Lee Smith, William Marshall Brown and Marilyn O’Hara Ruiz identified the factors most closely associated with a country’s risk of experiencing an outbreak. Smith and Ruiz are pathobiology professors; Brown is GIS lab manager for the department.

In one of the largest studies of its kind, researchers analyzed chikungunya and dengue outbreak data from 76 countries over a period of 50 years, focusing on regions across the Indian Ocean that are hard hit by these and other mosquito-borne infectious diseases.

The analysis of 1959-2009 data revealed that population density and proximity to a country already experiencing an outbreak were the factors most closely associated with a country’s own likelihood of experiencing an outbreak.

“As a geographer, I was glad to see that the first law of geography held true, which is that things that are near each other tend to be more alike,” said University of Illinois pathobiology professor Marilyn O’Hara Ruiz, who led the research with pathobiology professor Rebecca Lee Smith and former postdoctoral research associate Gianluigi Rossi.

“In general, when we look across time, these things are quite localized in that countries that are near each other are more likely to have the same outbreak,” Ruiz said. “We also found that outbreaks are more likely to co-occur in densely populated areas.”

Chikungunya and dengue are mosquito-borne viral diseases with overlapping distribution globally. Dengue can be a more serious infection, with a mortality rate of about 20 percent for severe infections that go untreated. Dengue infections are on the rise globally, according to the World Health Organization. Both diseases are more likely to occur in tropical or subtropical regions.

The new study found no significant association between local temperature or precipitation and outbreak risk, a somewhat unexpected finding since heat, rain and fluctuations in mosquito populations are often linked, the researchers said.

The findings should reassure those who worry that distant outbreaks will travel across the world to strike closer to home, Ruiz said.

“If one is trying to reduce the spread of an infectious disease, it’s probably better to focus resources on places that have high-density populations and that have an outbreak nearby,” she said.

Another important implication of the work is that countries need to share data with their neighbors, Smith said.

“People sometimes don’t want to share that they have an outbreak going on,” she said. “But mosquitoes don’t recognize borders. So, we need epidemiology without borders.”


Filed Under: Infectious Disease

 

Related Articles Read More >

Secretary of Health removes all current members of the CDC advisory committee on immunization practices
covid-19 vaccine
FDA COVID booster pullback jolts vaccine stocks before gains cool
Coronavirus Covid-19 background - 3d rendering
Pregnancy associated with less long COVID: Researchers call for studies on protective biology
How technology advances are helping scientists unlock the mysteries of zoonotic diseases
“ddd
EXPAND YOUR KNOWLEDGE AND STAY CONNECTED
Get the latest news and trends happening now in the drug discovery and development industry.

MEDTECH 100 INDEX

Medtech 100 logo
Market Summary > Current Price
The MedTech 100 is a financial index calculated using the BIG100 companies covered in Medical Design and Outsourcing.
Drug Discovery and Development
  • MassDevice
  • DeviceTalks
  • Medtech100 Index
  • Medical Design Sourcing
  • Medical Design & Outsourcing
  • Medical Tubing + Extrusion
  • Subscribe to our E-Newsletter
  • Contact Us
  • About Us
  • R&D World
  • Drug Delivery Business News
  • Pharmaceutical Processing World

Copyright © 2025 WTWH Media LLC. All Rights Reserved. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of WTWH Media
Privacy Policy | Advertising | About Us

Search Drug Discovery & Development

  • Home Drug Discovery and Development
  • Drug Discovery
  • Women in Pharma and Biotech
  • Oncology
  • Neurological Disease
  • Infectious Disease
  • Resources
    • Video features
    • Podcast
    • Voices
    • Webinars
  • Pharma 50
    • 2025 Pharma 50
    • 2024 Pharma 50
    • 2023 Pharma 50
    • 2022 Pharma 50
    • 2021 Pharma 50
  • Advertise
  • SUBSCRIBE