CLUSTERING OF HEMAGGLUTININ GENE-SEQUENCES OF MEASLES VIRUSES ISOLATED IN THE GAMBIA

Partial nucleotide sequences of the haemagglutinin (H) gene of 18 meas les viruses isolated in the Gambia during 1994 and 1995 show a high de gree of homology (> 98.5%) when compared with each other. These sequen ces form a cluster distinct from measles viruses isolated from other g eographic regions and from the sequences of vaccine strains and two is olates from the Gambia From earlier years. Despite the low level of ge netic heterogeneity observed, a common feature of the Gambian isolates is the prescence of three nucleotide changes (at positions 7963, 8649 and 8653) not observed in isolates from other locations. (C) 1997 Els evier Science B.V.