Abstract
Previous studies on the molecular epidemiology of measles virus in Nigeria shows that genotype B3 clusters 1 and 2 are the circulating measles genotype. We report the isolation of measles virus strain of close similarity to reference genotype A measles virus strain from Ibadan, Nigeria. Molecular characterization of a measles virus isolate from a child presenting with fever and rash in a hospital in Ibadan, Nigeria, was done by measles virus isolation in Vero slam cell line, RT-PCR and direct sequencing of the COOH terminal of the nucleoprotein gene of the measles virus isolate. Phylogenetic analysis of the sequence shows that isolate MViIbadan, NIE/11.01 clustered with the reference strains of Clade A. Our current report shows evidence of another circulating MV genotype different from the previously reported genotype B3 in Nigeria. We advocate for expanded national molecular surveillance of measles virus as this will aid in achieving the country’s goal of control of the disease.
Highlights
Measles is an acute viral illness characterised by a prodromal illness of fever, coryza, cough, conjunctivitis and presence of Koplik spots followed by the appearance of a generalised maculopapular rash
The phylogenetic tree generated revealed that the Ibadan prototype Clade A strain co-clustered with sequences close to the vaccine Edmonston Zagreb stain with 98% bootstrap value (Figure 1), suggesting the possibility of common ancestral origin
Molecular Epidemiology of Measles virus in Nigeria classifies isolates into two distinct groups within genotype B3, B3 cluster 1 and B3 cluster 27,8
Summary
Measles is an acute viral illness characterised by a prodromal illness of fever, coryza, cough, conjunctivitis and presence of Koplik spots followed by the appearance of a generalised maculopapular rash. The illness is either mild or severe depending on the immune and nutritional status of the infected person It is caused by measles virus (MV), which is a negative sense single stranded RNA virus of the family Paramyxoviridae, genus Morbillivirus[1]. Measles is one of the leading causes of death among young children despite the availability of a safe and cost effective vaccine for over 40 years[3]. It accounted for over 145700 deaths in 2013 globally, 51% of which are from World Health Organization (WHO) defined African region[4]. This study reports the molecular characterization of a previously unreported genotype of measles virus from Nigeria
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