Introduction : Chikungunya surveillance has been carried out since 2021 through the search for the virus in blood samples from Dengue sentinel surveillance sites. On September 3rd,2023, the national Hemorragic Fever reference laboratory reported a case of Chikungunya disease in a blood sample sent by the Pouytenga Health District. Confronted with this situation, we carried out an investigation to determine the extent of the phenomenon and put in place control measures.
Methods : We conducted a cross-sectional study from September 11 to 15, 2023 in Pouytenga town. A suspected case was defined as any person presenting a fever >38°5 C lasting ≤ 7 days with joint pain with or without muscle pain, headache and fatigue living in Pouytenga from August 1 to September 15, 2023. The documentary review, community case research and an entomological investigation allowed to describe the cases in terms of time, place and person. Blood samples were taken from suspected cases and were analysed by the reference laboratory. We used Epi Infos to process data and the calculate of frequencies and proportions.
Results : We detected a total of 241 suspected cases of Chikungunya and from which we took 157 samples The analysis of the samples confirmed 57% (89/157) cases of Chikungunya. The median age was 27 years (0-75), women represented 60% (53/89) and 92% (82/89) resided in urban areas. The maximum number of cases was recorded between September 8th and 12th, 2023. There was not any death. The entomological investigation confirmed the presence of mosquito larval breeding grounds (Aedes especially) in households and several uncovered drainage infrastructures.
Conclusion : This investigation confirmed the outbreak of Chikungunya. Free case management and the physical destruction of larval breeding sites have helped reduce the outbreak. It would be desirable to carry out indoor and spatial spraying in certain specific areas in order to better control the outbreak.
Key words : hemorrhagic fevers, Chikungunya, epidemiological surveillance, Pouytenga, Burkina Faso