Imported Genotype 2B Rubella Virus Caused the 2012 Outbreak in Anqing City China.

Tuesday, 24th of May 2016

PLoS One. 2015 Sep 24;10(9):e0139173. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0139173. eCollection 2015.

Imported Genotype 2B Rubella Virus Caused the 2012 Outbreak in Anqing City China.

Zhu Z¹ Pan G² Zhou S³ Dai J⁴ Chen X³ Tang J³ Chen S² Zheng Y² Song J⁵ Xu W¹.

Author information

Abstract

A rubella outbreak occurred in Anqing city of Anhui province China from February to July of 2012 and a total of 241 clinically diagnosed or lab-confirmed patients were reported. The highest number of rubella cases during this outbreak was recorded in teenagers between 10 and 19 years of age who had not previously received the rubella vaccine. Genotyping results indicated that the genotype 2B rubella virus (RV) was responsible for the outbreak. However a phylogenetic analysis showed that the genotype 2B RVs isolated in Anqing City were not related to 2B RVs found in other cities of Anhui province and in other provinces of China thus providing evidence for importation. After importation the transmission of Anqing RVs was interrupted owing to an effective immunization campaign against rubella suggesting the timeliness and effectiveness of contingency vaccination. Strengthening rubella surveillance including the integration of epidemiologic information and laboratory data is a vital strategy for rubella control and elimination. In addition except for routine immunization targeted supplementary immunization activities aimed at susceptible groups according to sero-epidemiological surveillance data also play a key role in stopping the continuous transmission of rubella viruses and in preventing further congenital rubella syndrome cases.