Molecular characterization of rabies virus isolated from dogs in Tunisia: evidence of two phylogenetic variants.

In an attempt to explain temporal and geographical rabies incidence fluctuations in Tunisia, a molecular epidemiological study of rabies virus (RV) was carried out. A panel of RV isolates from dogs, collected between 1992 and 2003, from different regions in Tunisia have been analysed by direct sequencing of PCR-amplified products coding for the nucleoprotein gene. New sequences have been compared to prototype sequences of Lyssavirus species and nine lineages of species 1.