Current Epidemiological Status of Chikungunya Virus Infection in East Africa: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Background: The incidence of Chikungunya in tropical Africa is still of major epidemiological significance. This study aims to determine the prevalence of chikungunya in East Africa through a systematic review and meta-analysis of published studies. Methods: We conducted a comprehensive search across six electronic databases-Web of Science, PubMed, ScienceDirect, Scopus, and Google Scholar-using specific keywords to address the worldwide impact of chikungunya following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analysis (PRISMA) guidelines. A meta-analysis was performed on our eligible studies using the random effect model. Results: Our search returned 40 eligible articles involving 4122 Chikungunya cases in 13 East African nations. These studies, conducted between 2014 and 2024 across 13 East African nations, provided diverse data on chikungunya prevalence. The overall pooled prevalence of chikungunya in East Africa was 20.6% (95% CI: 18.8%-22.5% and I ² = 99.62%). Subgroup analyses revealed variations in prevalence across different countries, study designs, detection methods, and publication years. Notably, Rwanda and Djibouti exhibited high prevalence rates of 63.0% and 50.4%, respectively, while Kenya and Somalia reported a moderate prevalence of 12.2%. The detection methods also influenced prevalence rates, with RT-PCR studies indicating a higher prevalence (28.3%) compared to ELISA (19.3%). Conclusion: The study highlights the significant burden of chikungunya in East Africa, and the findings underscore the need for targeted public health interventions and improved surveillance to manage and control chikungunya outbreaks in the region.