Complete annotated genome sequence of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Zopf) Lehmann and Neumann (ATCC35812) (Kurono).

We report the completely annotated genome sequence of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Zopf) Lehmann and Neumann (ATCC35812) (Kurono), which is a used for virulence and/or immunization studies. The complete genome sequence of M. tuberculosis Kurono was determined with a length of 4,415,078 bp and a G+C content of 65.

A food-borne outbreak of gastroenteritis due to genotype G1P[8] rotavirus among adolescents in Japan.

Six high school students in Tochigi prefecture, Japan, developed gastroenteritis after eating at a pork cutlet shop. Molecular epidemiologic analyses showed that the causative agent was genotype G1P[8] rotavirus (RV), this being detected in stool samples from both the patients and the asymptomatic food handlers. The detected RV strains were closely related genetically.

Molecular evolution of attachment glycoprotein (G) gene in human respiratory syncytial virus detected in Japan 2008-2011.

We investigated the evolution of the C-terminal 3rd hypervariable region of G gene in the prevalent human respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) subgroups A (RSV-A) and B (RSV-B) in Japan in 2008-2011. Phylogenetic analysis and the evolutionary timescale was obtained by the Bayesian Markov Chain Monte Carlo method. All 38 RSV-A strains detected were classified into genotype NA1 and the 17 RSV-B strains detected belonged to genotypes BA and GB2.

Genetic analysis of the VP4/VP2 coding region in human rhinovirus species C in patients with acute respiratory infection in Japan.

Detailed genetic analysis was carried out of the VP4/VP2 coding region in human rhinovirus species C (HRV-C) strains detected in patients with acute respiratory infection in Japan. Phylogenetic trees were constructed by the neighbour-joining (NJ) and maximum-likelihood (ML) methods. The NJ phylogenetic tree assigned 11 genotypes to the present strains, whilst the ML tree showed that the strains diversified sometime in the early 1870 s.

Molecular epidemiological study of human rhinovirus species A, B and C from patients with acute respiratory illnesses in Japan.

Recent studies suggest that human rhinovirus species A, B and C (HRV-ABCs) may be associated with both the common cold and severe acute respiratory illnesses (ARIs) such as bronchiolitis, wheezy bronchiolitis and pneumonia. However, the state and molecular epidemiology of these viruses in Japan is not fully understood. This study detected the genomes of HRV-ABCs from Japanese patients (92 cases, 0-36 years old, mean±sd 3.

The characteristics of people requesting HIV antibody tests at public health centers in Japan.

Background: The epidemiologic features of those who requested to undergo the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) antibody test at public health centers in Japan are still ambiguous, although as a group, they are probably at a high risk to be infected.

Methods: Between April 2001 and March 2002, 14,900 persons visited 131 public health centers that cooperated with this study in relation to the HIV antibody tests. A questionnaire was given to 8,972 persons who agreed to participate in the survey and 5,079 (56.