Worldwide spread of dengue virus type 1

• Grant number: 13/12570-6
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants - Publications - Scientific article
• Start date: July 01, 2013
• End date: December 31, 2013
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Microbiology - Applied Microbiology
• Principal Investigator: Paolo Marinho de Andrade Zanotto
• Grantee: Paolo Marinho de Andrade Zanotto
• Host Institution: Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas (ICB). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

DENV-1 is one of the four viral serotypes that causes Dengue, the most common mosquito-borne viral disease of humans. The prevalence of these viruses has grown in recent decades and is now present in more than 100 countries. Limited studies document the spread of DENV-1 over the world despite its importance for human health. We used representative DENV-1 envelope gene sequences to unravel the dynamics of viral diffusion under a Bayesian phylogeographic approach. Data included strains from 45 distinct geographic locations isolated from 1944 to 2009. The estimated mean rate of nucleotide substitution was 6.5661024 substitutions/site/year. The larger genotypes (I, IV and V) had a distinctive phylogenetic structure and since 1990 they experienced effective population size oscillations. Thailand and Indonesia represented the main sources of strains for neighboring countries. Besides, Asia broadcast line ages into the Americas and the Pacific region that diverged in isolation. Also, a transmission network analysis revealed the pivotal role of Indochina in the global diffusion of DENV-1 and of the Caribbean in the diffusion over the Americas. The study summarizes the spatiotemporal DENV-1 worldwide spread that may help disease control. (AU)