Kenya, virus blamed for AHC outbreak identified

Researchers from the ‘KEMRI-Wellcome Trust Research Programme’ have successfully identified the pathogen responsible for a condition commonly known as ‘Red Eye’ disease, which affected many residents of Mombasa in February 2024. The cause of acute haemorrhagic conjunctivitis (AHC) is an old virus strain, coxsackievirus variant A24 (CA24v), which may have originated from the island of Mayotte in the Indian Ocean. It is the first time CA24v has been confirmed as the cause of an AHC epidemic in Kenya. Using metagenomic sequencing, an advanced technique that analyses all possible pathogens in a sample, the CA24v variant was detected in three of the 13 eye swab samples taken from patients at a clinic in Mombasa in February 2024. Sequences isolated along the Kenyan coast showed a close relationship with sequences from Mayotte, sampled in 2024, causing most AHC outbreaks globally. The study’s results, titled Identification of the A24 variant of coxsackievirus during an acute hemorrhagic conjunctivitis epidemic on the coast of Kenya, 2024, were shared with the Ministry of Health to inform the development of a public health response. Though AHC rarely poses a risk of life-threatening complications, given the self-limiting nature of the condition, its socio-economic impact is notable, often resulting in reduced school or work attendance, and subsequent economic losses.