Identification of two novel hepatitis C virus subtype 2 from Tunisia (2v and 2w).

PLoS One

Laboratory of Clinical Virology, WHO Regional Reference Laboratory for Poliomyelitis and Measles, for EMR, Pasteur Institute, Tunis, Tunisia.

Published: October 2021

Background: Hepatitis C virus (HCV) has a high genetic diversity. Eight genotypes and 90 subtypes are currently described. Genotypes are clinically significant for therapeutic management and their determination is necessary for epidemiological studies.

Methods: Tunisian patients plasma samples (n = 6) with unassigned HCV-2 subtype using partial sequencing in the NS5B and Core/E1 regions were analyzed by realizing whole-genome sequencing analysis. Phylogenetic analyses were performed to assign subtypes.

Results: Phylogenetic analysis of the full genome sequences of Tunisian strains shows two subtypes within HCV-2. These later were genetically distinct from all previously established HCV-2 subtypes with nucleotide divergence greater than 15% (20% -31%). These two subtypes are proposed as new subtypes 2v and 2w.

Conclusions: The discovery of two new HCV-2 subtypes circulating in the Tunisian population confirms the great diversity of HCV-2 viruses and increases the total number of HCV-2 subtypes from 21 to 23.

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Source
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7951806PMC
http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0248249PLOS

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