title: Genetic identification of cytomegaloviruses in a rural population of Côte d'Ivoire.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Cytomegaloviruses (CMVs) are herpesviruses that infect many mammalian species, including humans. Infection generally passes undetected, but the virus can cause serious disease in individuals with impaired immune function. Human CMV (HCMV) is circulating with high seroprevalence (60-100 %) on all continents. However, little information is available on HCMV genoprevalence and genetic diversity in subsaharan Africa, especially in rural areas of West Africa that are at high risk of human-to-human HCMV transmission. In addition, there is a potential for zoonotic spillover of pathogens through bushmeat hunting and handling in these areas as shown for various retroviruses. Although HCMV and nonhuman CMVs are regarded as species-specific, potential human infection with CMVs of non-human primate (NHP) origin, shown to circulate in the local NHP population, has not been studied.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Analysis of 657 human oral swabs and fecal samples collected from 518 individuals living in 8 villages of Côte d'Ivoire with generic PCR for identification of human and NHP CMVs revealed shedding of HCMV in 2.5 % of the individuals. Determination of glycoprotein B sequences showed identity with strains Towne, AD169 and Toledo, respectively. NHP CMV sequences were not detected.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  HCMV is actively circulating in a proportion of the rural Côte d'Ivoire human population with circulating strains being closely related to those previously identified in non-African countries. The lack of NHP CMVs in human populations in an environment conducive to cross-species infection supports zoonotic transmission of CMVs to humans being at most a rare event.
authors.affiliation: Centre de Recherche pour le Développement, Université Alassane Ouattara de Bouake, 01 BP V18, Bouake, Côte d'Ivoire. anohetyl@yahoo.fr.
authors.forename: Augustin Etile
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Anoh
authors.affiliation: Centre de Recherche pour le Développement, Université Alassane Ouattara de Bouake, 01 BP V18, Bouake, Côte d'Ivoire. akouamc@yahoo.fr.
authors.forename: Chantal
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Akoua-Koffi
authors.affiliation: LANADA/Laboratoire Central de Pathologie Animale, Bingerville, 206, Côte d'Ivoire. chymann@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: Emmanuel
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Couacy-Hymann
authors.affiliation: Project group P3 "Epidemiology of Highly Pathogenic Microorganisms", Robert Koch Institute, Berlin, 13353, Germany. Maude.Pauly@lih.lu.|Division 12 "Measles, Mumps, Rubella and Viruses affecting immune-compromised patients", Robert Koch Institute, Berlin, 13353, Germany. Maude.Pauly@lih.lu.|Present address: Department of Infection and Immunity, Luxembourg Institute of Health, Esch-sur-Alzette, 4354, Luxembourg. Maude.Pauly@lih.lu.
authors.forename: Maude
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pauly
authors.affiliation: Project group P3 "Epidemiology of Highly Pathogenic Microorganisms", Robert Koch Institute, Berlin, 13353, Germany. gritschubert77@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Grit
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Schubert
authors.affiliation: LANADA/Laboratoire Central de Pathologie Animale, Bingerville, 206, Côte d'Ivoire. mossouna@yahoo.fr.|UFR Biosciences, Université FHB, Abidjan-Cocody, Côte d'Ivoire, Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire. mossouna@yahoo.fr.
authors.forename: Arsène
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mossoun
authors.affiliation: Project group P3 "Epidemiology of Highly Pathogenic Microorganisms", Robert Koch Institute, Berlin, 13353, Germany. sabrinanweiss@gmail.com.|Present address: European Public Health Microbiology (EUPHEM) training programme, European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), Stockholm, Sweden, and Public Health England (PHE), London, NW9 5EQ, UK. sabrinanweiss@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Sabrina
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Weiss
authors.affiliation: Project group P3 "Epidemiology of Highly Pathogenic Microorganisms", Robert Koch Institute, Berlin, 13353, Germany. leendertzS@rki.de.
authors.forename: Siv Aina J
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Leendertz
authors.affiliation: School of Biomedical and Healthcare Sciences, Plymouth University, Plymouth, United Kingdom. michael.jarvis@plymouth.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Michael A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Jarvis
authors.affiliation: Project group P3 "Epidemiology of Highly Pathogenic Microorganisms", Robert Koch Institute, Berlin, 13353, Germany. leendertzf@rki.de.
authors.forename: Fabian H
authors.initials: FH
authors.lastname: Leendertz
authors.affiliation: Division 12 "Measles, Mumps, Rubella and Viruses affecting immune-compromised patients", Robert Koch Institute, Berlin, 13353, Germany. ehlersb@rki.de.
authors.forename: Bernhard
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Ehlers
mesh_terms: D007560:Cote d'Ivoire / Q000453:epidemiology; D003587:Cytomegalovirus / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D003586:Cytomegalovirus Infections / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000821:virology*; D005243:Feces / Q000821:virology; D014644:Genetic Variation; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D017720:Molecular Epidemiology; D009055:Mouth / Q000821:virology; D015995:Prevalence; D012424:Rural Population; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D014759:Viral Envelope Proteins / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D014759:Viral Envelope Proteins; C040495:glycoprotein B, Simplexvirus