title: Genetic analysis of measles viruses isolated in Morocco.
abstract: Sequence analysis was conducted on the hemagglutinin (H) and nucleoprotein (N) genes from nine wild-type measles viruses (MV) isolated during an outbreak that occurred in Morocco during 1998 and 1999. The sequence data showed that all the viruses were closely related to each other and were members of genotype C2. Genotype C2 has been shown to be circulating in Europe, and the sequences of the Moroccan isolates were most closely related to the sequences of recent viral isolates from western Europe. This report presents the first molecular epidemiological study of circulating wild-type measles viruses in Morocco. Knowledge of the indigenous strain of measles virus circulating in Morocco will help to describe viral transmission pathways and should contribute to efforts to evaluate the effectiveness of future vaccination campaigns.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Health, Rabat, Morocco.
authors.forename: Amal
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Alla
authors.forename: Stephanie L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Liffick
authors.forename: Bruce R
authors.initials: BR
authors.lastname: Newton
authors.forename: Rajae
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Elaouad
authors.forename: Paul A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Rota
authors.forename: William J
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Bellini
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004196:Disease Outbreaks; D006389:Hemagglutinins, Viral / Q000235:genetics; D006801:Humans; D017589:Immunization Programs; D007223:Infant; D008457:Measles / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000821:virology; D008458:Measles Vaccine; D008459:Measles virus / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics*; D017720:Molecular Epidemiology; D009018:Morocco / Q000453:epidemiology; D019590:Nucleocapsid Proteins; D009698:Nucleoproteins / Q000235:genetics; D010802:Phylogeny; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D014758:Viral Core Proteins / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D006389:Hemagglutinins, Viral; D008458:Measles Vaccine; D019590:Nucleocapsid Proteins; D009698:Nucleoproteins; D014758:Viral Core Proteins