J Gen Virol
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Originally published as JGV in Press, 10.1099/vir.0.011981-0 on June 17, 2009 J Gen Virol 90 (2009), 2452-2456; DOI 10.1099/vir.0.011981-0

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Short Communication

Predominance of hepatitis C virus genotype 4 infection and rapid transmission between 1935 and 1965 in the Central African Republic

Richard Njouom1, Eric Frost2, Sylvie Deslandes2, Fleurie Mamadou-Yaya3, Annie-Claude Labbé4, Régis Pouillot5, Pascal Mbélesso3, Sylvestre Mbadingai3, Dominique Rousset1 and Jacques Pépin2

1 Laboratoire de Virologie, Centre Pasteur du Cameroun, Yaoundé, Cameroon
2 Département de Microbiologie et Infectiologie, Université de Sherbrooke, Canada
3 Ministry of Health, Bangui, Central African Republic
4 Department of Microbiology, Hôpital Maisonneuve-Rosemont, Montréal, Canada
5 Laboratoire d'Épidémiologie, Centre Pasteur du Cameroun, Yaoundé, Cameroon

Correspondence
Richard Njouom
njouom{at}pasteur-yaounde.org
or
njouom{at}yahoo.com

The molecular epidemiology of hepatitis C virus (HCV) in the Central African Republic (CAR) is poorly documented. Thus, we conducted phylogenetic analyses of NS5B gene sequences from 58 HCV-infected inhabitants of a remote area of south-west CAR, which indicated that 48 (82.8 %) were infected with genotype 4 (HCV-4), five (8.6 %) with genotype 2 and five (8.6 %) with genotype 1. HCV-4 strains were highly heterogeneous, containing previously described subtypes 4k (48 %), 4c (27 %), 4r (4 %), 4f (4 %) and unclassified subtypes (17 %). To estimate the epidemic history of these HCV-4 strains, an evolutionary analysis using the coalescent approach was used. The estimated date of the most recent common ancestor of the CAR HCV-4 strains was 1539 (95 % confidence intervals, 1317–1697). They exhibited a rapid, exponential spread from 1935 to 1965, simultaneously with what was recently reported in neighbouring Cameroon and Gabon. The hypothesis of a massive iatrogenic transmission during interventions for the control of endemic tropical diseases is discussed.

The GenBank/EMBL/DDBJ accession numbers for the 58 NS5B gene sequences determined in this study are FJ791060 [GenBank] –FJ791117.






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