title: Molecular epidemiology of hepatitis B virus in Afro-Venezuelan populations.
abstract: Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection among Venezuelan populations of African origin was analyzed. These populations exhibited lower HBV prevalence than the one found in the African continent. Sequence analysis of 6 isolates showed that 3 belonged to genotype F, while the 3 others were HBV genotype A. HBV genotype A was more common in the Afro-Venezuelan groups than in the general Venezuelan population. This might reflect the introduction of genotype A during the slavery period. The absence of the African genotype E among these isolates supports the hypothesis of a recent origin for this HBV genotype. HBV genotype F has already been introduced to these relatively isolated communities.
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio de Biología de Virus, CMBC, IVIC, Caracas, Venezuela.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Quintero
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Martínez
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Alarcón De Noya
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Costagliola
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Urbina
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: González
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Liprandi
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Castro De Guerra
authors.forename: F H
authors.initials: FH
authors.lastname: Pujol
mesh_terms: D000349:Africa / Q000208:ethnology; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D005838:Genotype; D006515:Hepatitis B virus / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics; D006801:Humans; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D014687:Venezuela