title: High prevalence of GB virus C/hepatitis G virus in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo: a phylogenetic analysis.
abstract: A prevalence of 10.3% of GB virus C (GBV-C)/hepatitis G virus (HGV) carriers was found in 97 pregnant women from Kinshasa, Congo (formerly Zaire), while prevalences of 1%, 4.1%, and 0% were found for hepatitis C virus, human immunodeficiency virus, and human T-lymphotropic virus respectively. Phylogenetic analysis of the ten GBV-C/HGV positives based on the 5' non-coding region using three different methods identified consistently three GBV-C/HGV genotypes. Four main clades were found within the type 1 sequences. All the Congolese isolates are GBV-C/HGV type 1 in two different clades. The clustering of seven Congolese isolates was inconsistent in different methods. Further likelihood-mapping analysis showed a well-resolved phylogeny, confirming the clustering of the seven Congolese isolates with a Belgian strain representing a new clade in the GBV-C/HGV type 1 sequences.
authors.affiliation: Unit of Virology, Cliniques Universitaires St-Luc, Université Catholique de Louvain, Brussels, Belgium.
authors.forename: H F
authors.initials: HF
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: J J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Muyembe-Tamfum
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Dahan
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Desmyter
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Goubau
mesh_terms: D006800:Deltaretrovirus Infections / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology; D015023:Democratic Republic of the Congo / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D018067:Flaviviridae / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics*; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology; D006526:Hepatitis C / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology; D006525:Hepatitis, Viral, Human / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000821:virology; D006801:Humans; D010802:Phylogeny; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D011247:Pregnancy; D015995:Prevalence; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000032:analysis; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D014759:Viral Envelope Proteins / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D012367:RNA, Viral; D014759:Viral Envelope Proteins; C114224:envelope protein E1, GB virus C