title: Emergence and global spread of a dengue serotype 3, subtype III virus.
abstract: Over the past two decades, dengue virus serotype 3 (DENV-3) has caused unexpected epidemics of dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF) in Sri Lanka, East Africa, and Latin America. We used a phylogenetic approach to evaluate the roles of virus evolution and transport in the emergence of these outbreaks. Isolates from these geographically distant epidemics are closely related and belong to DENV-3, subtype III, which originated in the Indian subcontinent. The emergence of DHF in Sri Lanka in 1989 correlated with the appearance there of a new DENV-3, subtype III variant. This variant likely spread from the Indian subcontinent into Africa in the 1980s and from Africa into Latin America in the mid-1990s. DENV-3, subtype III isolates from mild and severe disease outbreaks formed genetically distinct groups, which suggests a role for viral genetics in DHF.
authors.affiliation: University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA.
authors.forename: William B
authors.initials: WB
authors.lastname: Messer
authors.forename: Duane J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Gubler
authors.forename: Eva
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Harris
authors.forename: Kamalanayani
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sivananthan
authors.forename: Aravinda M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: de Silva
mesh_terms: D000351:Africa, Eastern / Q000453:epidemiology; D021821:Communicable Diseases, Emerging / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000821:virology; D003716:Dengue Virus / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D004196:Disease Outbreaks; D006801:Humans; D007843:Latin America / Q000453:epidemiology; D010802:Phylogeny; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D019595:Severe Dengue / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000821:virology*; D013188:Sri Lanka / Q000453:epidemiology