title: Molecular and antigenic characterization of rabies viruses from Iran identifies variants with distinct epidemiological origins.
abstract: A molecular epidemiological study of 48 recent rabies isolates recovered from cases reported throughout Iran identified three distinct viral variants, the evolutionary origins of which were identified by phylogenetic comparison with rabies viruses originating from Europe and Asia. Members of group 1 (15 isolates) were recovered from the northern half of the country only, while those of group 2 (31 isolates) were widely dispersed; both groups clustered within the widely disseminated cosmopolitan lineage. The two isolates of group 3 were detected in the northeastern tip of the country only and belonged to the Arctic strain. Rapid variant discrimination tools, employing restriction fragment length polymorphisms applied to amplified fragments of the viral genome, were devised whilst antigenic characterization of representative viruses identified a small panel of monoclonal antibodies that were also discriminatory. The future application of such methods should provide valuable epidemiological information on rabies incidence in Iran.
authors.affiliation: Centre of Expertise for Rabies, Canadian Food Inspection Agency, Ottawa Laboratory Fallowfield, 3851 Fallowfield Road, Nepean, Ontario, Canada K2H 8P9.
authors.forename: S A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Nadin-Davis
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Simani
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Armstrong
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Fayaz
authors.forename: A I
authors.initials: AI
authors.lastname: Wandeler
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D000829:Animals, Domestic; D000956:Antigens, Viral / Q000032:analysis*; D001208:Asia / Q000453:epidemiology; D016021:Epidemiologic Studies; D005060:Europe / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D007492:Iran / Q000453:epidemiology; D017720:Molecular Epidemiology; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D012150:Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length; D011818:Rabies / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology; D011820:Rabies virus / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology* / Q000472:pathogenicity; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction
chemical_list: D000956:Antigens, Viral