Genotyping of measles virus isolates from central Europe and Russia

Sequence analysis of 285 nucleotides located on the variable part of the N gene was undertaken on measles virus (MV) samples collected from acutely in fected patients in Germany, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Poland, and Russia . Two distinct genotypes (C2 and D6) have circulated in Germany between 199 3 and 1996. Isolates of genotype C2 were related to strains reported in Ger many before 1993. This genotype was also found in the Czech Republic in 199 2 and in Denmark in 1997. The occurrence of genotype D6 in Germany is descr ibed below for the first time. In 1998, this genotype was identified in Pol and. Genotypes C2 and D6 were also reported in Spain and in the United King dom between 1992 and 1996. Therefore, it is concluded that these genotypes are widely distributed over Europe. The analysis of the isolates from Russi a revealed that genotype A was present in 1988 in the European part of the country and in 1996 in Siberia. An isolate identified in 1997 in Siberia be longed to genotype D6, which had never been found previously in Russia. We also analysed MV obtained from a case of subacute sclerosing panencephaliti s (SSPE) in 1995 in Turkey. A comparison of this sequence with published se quences implied that this SSPE case was associated with a new genetic linea ge of MV. (C) 1999 Wiley-Liss, Inc.