Genetic characterization of wild-type measles viruses isolated during the 1998 measles epidemic in Argentina

This study reports on genomic characterization of six measles virus (MV) is olates obtained from a measles epidemic in Argentina in 1998. Reverse trans cription-polymerase chain react ion (RT-PCR) and nucleotide sequence analys is of the carboxyl-terminal region of the nucleoprotein CN) gene of these i solates classified all of them as wild type MV of D6 genotype. MVs of D6 ge notype with identical nucleotide sequences in the region analyzed were also identified during the 1997 measles epidemic in Brazil and the 1999 measles outbreak in Uruguai. These results suggest that the MVs associated with th e 1998 measles epidemic in Argentina might have originated from Brazil. As the D6 genotype is also widely distributed in Europe, it is possible that t his genotype was brought to South America from Europe.