Genotyping of measles virus isolates from central Europe and Russia

Sequence analysis of 285 nucleotides located on the variable part of the N gene was undertaken on measles virus (MV) samples collected from acutely infected patients in Germany, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Poland, and Russia. Two distinct genotypes (C2 and D6) have circulated in Germany between 1993 and 1996. Isolates of genotype C2 were related to strains reported in Germany before 1993. This genotype was also found in the Czech Republic in 1992 and in Denmark in 1997. The occurrence of genotype D6 in Germany is described below for the first time. In 1998, this genotype was identified in Poland. Genotypes C2 and D6 were also reported in Spain and in the United Kingdom between 1992 and 1996. Therefore, it is concluded that these genotypes are widely distributed over Europe. The analysis of the isolates from Russia revealed that genotype A was present in 1988 in the European part of the country and in 1996 in Siberia. An isolate identified in 1997 in Siberia belonged to genotype D6, which had never been found previously in Russia. We also analysed MV obtained from a case of subacute sclerosing panencephalitis (SSPE) in 1995 in Turkey. A comparison of this sequence with published sequences implied that this SSPE case was associated with a new genetic lineage of MV.