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- Title
HTLV-2B Strains, Similar to Those Found in Several Amerindian Tribes, Are Endemic in Central African Bakola Pygmies.
- Authors
Mauclère, Philippe; Afonso, Philippe Vicente; Meertens, Laurent; Plancoulaine, Sabine; Calattini, Sara; Froment, Alain; Van Beveren, Monique; de Thé, Guy; Quintana-Murci, Lluis; Mahieux, Renaud; Gessain, Antoine
- Abstract
Background. The presence and origin of endemic foci of human T-lymphotropic virus type 2 (HTLV2) infection in Africa remain a matter of debate.Methods. To better appreciate such determinants, we performed a survey of 1918 inhabitants from Cameroon forest areas, including 1051 Bakola Pygmies and 867 Bantus.Results. The overall HTLV-1/2 seroprevalence was 4% (49 cases of HTLV-1 and 27 cases of HTLV-2 infection). Both infections were mainly restricted to the Bakola Pygmies, with surprisingly no HTLV-2 infections in the Bantu population. Both HTLV-1 and HTLV-2 seroprevalences increased with age. There was evidence of ongoing HTLV-2 transmission in this population. Lymphoid T cell lines producing HTLV-2 were established. HTLV-2 long terminal repeat sequences (672 base pairs) obtained from 7 infected Bakola were highly similar to each other (<1% nucleotide divergence), as well as to Amerindian HTLV-2B strains. Analyses on a complete sequence (8954 base pairs) confirmed that it was a typical HTLV-2 subtype B strain. Along with molecular clock analysis, these data strongly suggest that HTLV-2 has been endemic in the Bakola Pygmy population for a long time.Conclusions. This study demonstrates clearly an HTLV-2 endemicity with ongoing transmission in an African population. Furthermore, it give insights into central questions regarding the origins and evolution rate of HTLV-2 and the migrations of infected populations.
- Subjects
HTLV-II (Virus); ETIOLOGY of diseases; INFECTIOUS disease transmission; INDIGENOUS peoples of the Americas; PYGMIES; BAGYELE (African people); DISEASES
- Publication
Journal of Infectious Diseases, 2011, Vol 203, Issue 9, p1316
- ISSN
0022-1899
- Publication type
Article