Molecular epidemiology: HIV-1 and HCV sequences from Libyan outbreak.
In 1998, outbreaks of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection were reported in children attending Al-Fateh Hospital in Benghazi, Libya. Here we use molecular phylogenetic techniques to analyse new virus sequences from these outbreaks. We find that the HIV-1 and HCV strains were already circulating and prevalent in this hospital and its environs before the arrival in March 1998 of the foreign medical staff (five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor) who stand accused of transmitting the HIV strain to the children.
de Oliveira
Tulio
T
Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3PS, UK. tulio.deoliveira@zoo.ox.ac.uk
Pybus
Oliver G
OG
Rambaut
Andrew
A
Salemi
Marco
M
Cassol
Sharon
S
Ciccozzi
Massimo
M
Rezza
Giovanni
G
Gattinara
Guido Castelli
GC
D'Arrigo
Roberta
R
Amicosante
Massimo
M
Perrin
Luc
L
Colizzi
Vittorio
V
Perno
Carlo Federico
CF
D002648:Child; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000635:transmission / Q000821:virology*; D015497:HIV-1 / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D016174:Hepacivirus / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D006526:Hepatitis C / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000635:transmission / Q000821:virology*; D006801:Humans; D008002:Libya / Q000453:epidemiology; D009726:Nurses / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D010802:Phylogeny; D010820:Physicians / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D015203:Reproducibility of Results