Between April and December 1996, a serious outbreak of poliomyelitis occurred in Albania; almost 140 subjects were involved, and the episode presented an unusually high mortality rate (12%). During the outbreak, water samples from the Lana River in Tirana, Albania, and stool samples from two cases of paralytic poliomyelitis were collected and analyzed for the presence of polioviruses. Six polioviruses were isolated from the environmental and human samples, according to standard methods. All the samples were characterized by partial genomic sequencing of 330 bases across the 5' untranslated region (5'-UTR) (nucleotide positions 200 to 530) and of 300 bases across the VP1 region (nucleotide positions 2474 to 2774). Comparison of these sequences with those present in data banks permitted the identification of environmental isolates Lana A and Lana B as, respectively, a Sabin-like type 2 poliovirus and an intertypic recombinant poliovirus (Sabin-like type 2/wild type 1), both bearing a G instead of an A at nucleotide position 481. The two other environmental polioviruses were similar to the isolates from the paralytic cases. They were characterized by a peculiar 5'-UTR and by a VP1 region showing 98% homology with the Albanian epidemic type 1 isolates reported by other authors. This study confirms the environmental circulation in Albania of recombinant poliovirus strains, likely sustained by a massive vaccination effort and by the presence in the environment of a type 1 poliovirus, as isolated from the Lana River in Tirana about 2 months before the first case of symptomatic acute flaccid paralysis was reported in this town.

Divizia, M., Palombi, L., Buonomo, E., Donia, D.t., Ruscio, V., Equestre, M., et al. (1999). Genomic characterization of human and environmental polioviruses isolated in Albania. APPLIED AND ENVIRONMENTAL MICROBIOLOGY, 65(8), 3534-3539.

Genomic characterization of human and environmental polioviruses isolated in Albania

PALOMBI, LEONARDO;Buonomo, E;DONIA, DOMENICA TOMMASA;
1999-08-01

Abstract

Between April and December 1996, a serious outbreak of poliomyelitis occurred in Albania; almost 140 subjects were involved, and the episode presented an unusually high mortality rate (12%). During the outbreak, water samples from the Lana River in Tirana, Albania, and stool samples from two cases of paralytic poliomyelitis were collected and analyzed for the presence of polioviruses. Six polioviruses were isolated from the environmental and human samples, according to standard methods. All the samples were characterized by partial genomic sequencing of 330 bases across the 5' untranslated region (5'-UTR) (nucleotide positions 200 to 530) and of 300 bases across the VP1 region (nucleotide positions 2474 to 2774). Comparison of these sequences with those present in data banks permitted the identification of environmental isolates Lana A and Lana B as, respectively, a Sabin-like type 2 poliovirus and an intertypic recombinant poliovirus (Sabin-like type 2/wild type 1), both bearing a G instead of an A at nucleotide position 481. The two other environmental polioviruses were similar to the isolates from the paralytic cases. They were characterized by a peculiar 5'-UTR and by a VP1 region showing 98% homology with the Albanian epidemic type 1 isolates reported by other authors. This study confirms the environmental circulation in Albania of recombinant poliovirus strains, likely sustained by a massive vaccination effort and by the presence in the environment of a type 1 poliovirus, as isolated from the Lana River in Tirana about 2 months before the first case of symptomatic acute flaccid paralysis was reported in this town.
ago-1999
Pubblicato
Rilevanza internazionale
Articolo
Sì, ma tipo non specificato
Settore MED/42 - IGIENE GENERALE E APPLICATA
English
Con Impact Factor ISI
Time Factors; DNA, Viral; Genome, Viral; Base Sequence; Poliovirus; Sequence Homology, Nucleic Acid; Humans; Water Microbiology; Albania; Disease Outbreaks; Feces; Poliomyelitis; Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; Molecular Sequence Data
Divizia, M., Palombi, L., Buonomo, E., Donia, D.t., Ruscio, V., Equestre, M., et al. (1999). Genomic characterization of human and environmental polioviruses isolated in Albania. APPLIED AND ENVIRONMENTAL MICROBIOLOGY, 65(8), 3534-3539.
Divizia, M; Palombi, L; Buonomo, E; Donia, Dt; Ruscio, V; Equestre, M; Leno, L; Panà, A; Degener, A
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/2108/56093
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