Circulation of SARS-CoV-2 virus among pilgrims at the 2022 Grand Magal of Touba

Coumba Diouf (1) , Ihssane Ouaddane (1) , Ndiaw Goumballa (1) , Masse Sambou (2, 1) , Hubert Bassène (2, 1) , Mamadou Dieng (2, 1) , Philippe Gautret (3, 1) , Cheikh Sokhna (3, 2, 1)

1 VITROME - Vecteurs - Infections tropicales et méditerranéennes
2 Equipe 3 - VITROME - Maladies infectieuses persistantes et émergentes en Afrique de l’Ouest [Dakar, Sénégal]
3 IHU Marseille - Institut Hospitalier Universitaire Méditerranée Infection

Among pilgrims departing from two villages in South Senegal who participated to the event, 45% had respiratory symptoms and 7% acquired SARS-CoV-2 nasopharyngeal carriage. Among patients with respiratory symptoms sampled at a health care centre close to Touba, 5% tested positive. In contrast, no SARS-CoV-2 infection was observed in 2020–21.

Domaines: Bactériologie; Cardiologie et système cardiovasculaire; Maladies émergentes; Maladies infectieuses; Parasitologie; Virologie

Coumba Diouf, Ihssane Ouaddane, Ndiaw Goumballa, Masse Sambou, Hubert Bassène, et al.. Circulation of SARS-CoV-2 virus among pilgrims at the 2022 Grand Magal of Touba. Journal of Travel Medicine, 2023, ⟨10.1093/jtm/taad024⟩. ⟨hal-04115286⟩