TY - JOUR
T1 - Co-circulation of multiple rubella virus strains in Belarus forming novel genetic groups within clade 1
AU - Hübschen, Judith M.
AU - Yermalovich, Marina
AU - Semeiko, Galina
AU - Samoilovich, Elena
AU - Blatun, Elena
AU - De Landtsheer, Sébastien
AU - Muller, Claude P.
N1 - Funding Information:
An earlier version of this paper was presented at the workshop “The Future of Disaster Risk: Building Safer Cities”, hosted by the Disaster Management Facility of the World Bank, Washington, DC, USA, 4–6 December 2002. Part of this research has been carried out within the project DINAS-COAST (Dynamic and Interactive Assessment of National, Regional and Global Vulnerability of Coastal Zones to Climate Change and Sea-Level Rise), which is funded by the EU Research Directorate-General under project number EVK2-CT-2000-00084. The constructive comments from Kristie L. Ebi and three anonymous reviewers helped considerably in improving the manuscript.
PY - 2007/7
Y1 - 2007/7
N2 - Although the WHO recommends a comprehensive genetic characterization, little is known about circulating strains and genotypes of rubella virus (RUBV) for many European countries. Studies investigating the genetic diversity of a sizeable number of strains from a certain location are rare. This study presents the first molecular characterization of isolates from Belarus. Throat swab and urine samples were collected between 2004 and 2005 from patients presenting in two infectious disease hospitals and three outpatient clinics in and around Minsk. In total, 14 isolates were obtained from this clinical material. Phylogenetic analysis of the E1 gene sequence of these isolates showed that three distinct groups of RUBV strains co-circulated. One group of isolates was assigned to genotype 1E, whereas the other two did not group with any of the recognized genotypes but grouped with a strain belonging to the provisional genotype 1g. Detailed analysis showed that the group comprising 1g strains also contained sequences formerly attributed to genotype 1B and could be divided into four subgroups, one of which might represent a putative novel provisional genotype of clade 1. These findings show that three distinct strains with limited variability are present in Belarus, suggesting independent introductory events. As there currently seem to be misattributions of strains to genotypes and unclear phylogenetic relationships, criteria for genotyping of RUBV should be clarified further.
AB - Although the WHO recommends a comprehensive genetic characterization, little is known about circulating strains and genotypes of rubella virus (RUBV) for many European countries. Studies investigating the genetic diversity of a sizeable number of strains from a certain location are rare. This study presents the first molecular characterization of isolates from Belarus. Throat swab and urine samples were collected between 2004 and 2005 from patients presenting in two infectious disease hospitals and three outpatient clinics in and around Minsk. In total, 14 isolates were obtained from this clinical material. Phylogenetic analysis of the E1 gene sequence of these isolates showed that three distinct groups of RUBV strains co-circulated. One group of isolates was assigned to genotype 1E, whereas the other two did not group with any of the recognized genotypes but grouped with a strain belonging to the provisional genotype 1g. Detailed analysis showed that the group comprising 1g strains also contained sequences formerly attributed to genotype 1B and could be divided into four subgroups, one of which might represent a putative novel provisional genotype of clade 1. These findings show that three distinct strains with limited variability are present in Belarus, suggesting independent introductory events. As there currently seem to be misattributions of strains to genotypes and unclear phylogenetic relationships, criteria for genotyping of RUBV should be clarified further.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=34347326309&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1099/vir.0.82580-0
DO - 10.1099/vir.0.82580-0
M3 - Article
C2 - 17554029
AN - SCOPUS:34347326309
SN - 0022-1317
VL - 88
SP - 1960
EP - 1966
JO - Journal of General Virology
JF - Journal of General Virology
IS - 7
ER -