1. Emerging OP354-Like P[8] Rotaviruses Have Rapidly Dispersed from Asia to Other Continents.
- Author
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Zeller M, Heylen E, Damanka S, Pietsch C, Donato C, Tamura T, Kulkarni R, Arora R, Cunliffe N, Maunula L, Potgieter C, Tamim S, Coster SD, Zhirakovskaya E, Bdour S, O'Shea H, Kirkwood CD, Seheri M, Nyaga MM, Mphahlele J, Chitambar SD, Dagan R, Armah G, Tikunova N, Van Ranst M, and Matthijnssens J
- Subjects
- Asia, Humans, Phylogeography, Genes, Viral, Genotype, Rotavirus genetics, Rotavirus pathogenicity, Rotavirus Infections epidemiology, Rotavirus Infections genetics, Rotavirus Infections transmission
- Abstract
The majority of human group A rotaviruses possess the P[8] VP4 genotype. Recently, a genetically distinct subtype of the P[8] genotype, also known as OP354-like P[8] or lineage P[8]-4, emerged in several countries. However, it is unclear for how long the OP354-like P[8] gene has been circulating in humans and how it has spread. In a global collaborative effort 98 (near-)complete OP354-like P[8] VP4 sequences were obtained and used for phylogeographic analysis to determine the viral migration patterns. During the sampling period, 1988-2012, we found that South and East Asia acted as a source from which strains with the OP354-like P[8] gene were seeded to Africa, Europe, and North America. The time to the most recent common ancestor (TMRCA) of all OP354-like P[8] genes was estimated at 1987. However, most OP354-like P[8] strains were found in three main clusters with TMRCAs estimated between 1996 and 2001. The VP7 gene segment of OP354-like P[8] strains showed evidence of frequent reassortment, even in localized epidemics, suggesting that OP354-like P[8] genes behave in a similar manner on the evolutionary level as other P[8] subtypes. The results of this study suggest that OP354-like P[8] strains have been able to disperse globally in a relatively short time period. This, in combination with a relatively large genetic distance to other P[8] subtypes, might result in a lower vaccine effectiveness, underscoring the need for a continued surveillance of OP354-like P[8] strains, especially in countries where rotavirus vaccination programs are in place., (© The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.)
- Published
- 2015
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