title: Complete genome sequencing and phylogenetic analysis of dengue type 1 virus isolated from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Dengue viruses (DENVs) are mosquito-borne viruses which can cause disease ranging from mild fever to severe dengue infection. These viruses are endemic in several tropical and subtropical regions. Multiple outbreaks of DENV serotypes 1, 2 and 3 (DENV-1, DENV-2 and DENV-3) have been reported from the western region in Saudi Arabia since 1994. Strains from at least two genotypes of DENV-1 (Asia and America/Africa genotypes) have been circulating in western Saudi Arabia until 2006. However, all previous studies reported from Saudi Arabia were based on partial sequencing data of the envelope (E) gene without any reports of full genome sequences for any DENV serotypes circulating in Saudi Arabia.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Here, we report the isolation and the first complete genome sequence of a DENV-1 strain (DENV-1-Jeddah-1-2011) isolated from a patient from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia in 2011. Whole genome sequence alignment and phylogenetic analysis showed high similarity between DENV-1-Jeddah-1-2011 strain and D1/H/IMTSSA/98/606 isolate (Asian genotype) reported from Djibouti in 1998. Further analysis of the full envelope gene revealed a close relationship between DENV-1-Jeddah-1-2011 strain and isolates reported between 2004-2006 from Jeddah as well as recent isolates from Somalia, suggesting the widespread of the Asian genotype in this region.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These data suggest that strains belonging to the Asian genotype might have been introduced into Saudi Arabia long before 2004 most probably by African pilgrims and continued to circulate in western Saudi Arabia at least until 2011. Most importantly, these results indicate that pilgrims from dengue endemic regions can play an important role in the spread of new DENVs in Saudi Arabia and the rest of the world. Therefore, availability of complete genome sequences would serve as a reference for future epidemiological studies of DENV-1 viruses.
authors.affiliation: Special Infectious Agent Unit, King Fahd Medical Research Center, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. eazhar@kau.edu.sa.|Department of Medical Laboratory Technology, Faculty of Applied Medical Sciences, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. eazhar@kau.edu.sa.
authors.forename: Esam I
authors.initials: EI
authors.lastname: Azhar
authors.affiliation: Special Infectious Agent Unit, King Fahd Medical Research Center, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. amhashem@kau.edu.sa.|Department of Medical Microbiology and Parasitology, Faculty of Medicine, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. amhashem@kau.edu.sa.
authors.forename: Anwar M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Hashem
authors.affiliation: Special Infectious Agent Unit, King Fahd Medical Research Center, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. saelkfrawy@kau.edu.sa.
authors.forename: Sherif A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: El-Kafrawy
authors.affiliation: Special Infectious Agent Unit, King Fahd Medical Research Center, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. saidlec@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: Said
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Abol-Ela
authors.affiliation: Insect Pest Control Laboratory, Joint FAO/IAEA Program of Nuclear Techniques in Food and Agriculture, Vienna, Austria, Pests and Plant Protection Department, National Research Center, Cairo, Egypt. adlyhhm@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Adly M M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Abd-Alla
authors.affiliation: Special Infectious Agent Unit, King Fahd Medical Research Center, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. sayedsartaj@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Sayed Sartaj
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Sohrab
authors.affiliation: Special Infectious Agent Unit, King Fahd Medical Research Center, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. s_farraj@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Suha A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Farraj
authors.affiliation: Special Infectious Agent Unit, King Fahd Medical Research Center, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. n_uthman@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: Norah A
authors.initials: NA
authors.lastname: Othman
authors.affiliation: Special Infectious Agent Unit, King Fahd Medical Research Center, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. huda_gh_h@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Huda G
authors.initials: HG
authors.lastname: Ben-Helaby
authors.affiliation: Department of Laboratory Medicine, Faculty of Applied Medical Science, Umm Al-Qura University, Makkah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. aashshi@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Ahmed
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ashshi
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. tmadani@kau.edu.sa.
authors.forename: Tariq A
authors.initials: TA
authors.lastname: Madani
authors.affiliation: Special Infectious Agent Unit, King Fahd Medical Research Center, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. gjamjoom1@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Ghazi
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Jamjoom
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000818:Animals; D003715:Dengue / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000635:transmission / Q000821:virology; D003716:Dengue Virus / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D005260:Female; D016679:Genome, Viral; D006801:Humans; D017720:Molecular Epidemiology; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000235:genetics*; D012529:Saudi Arabia / Q000453:epidemiology; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D017385:Sequence Homology
chemical_list: D012367:RNA, Viral