African strains of hepatitis E virus that are distinct from Asian strains
Abstract
Partial genomic sequences of four hepatitis E virus (HEV) strains from Africa (Morocco and Tunisia) and one from Central Asia (Tashkent, Uzbekistan) were obtained. The reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction was used to amplify 5′ and hypervariable regions of open reading frame 1 (ORF1) and a region overlapping all 3 ORFs. Sequence analysis of these regions revealed the African strains to be quite distinct from all known Asian strains but more similar to them than to the Mexican strain. Sequence analysis of the Tashkent strain revealed almost complete identity with another central Asian strain from Osh, Kirgizia. These results thus further confirm the geographical origin of HEV strain divergence. J. Med. Virol. 53:139–144, 1997. © 1997 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
