Molecular Characterization of Dengue Type 2 Outbreak in Pacific Islands Countries and Territories, 2017-2020

• Published in: Viruses Vol. 12; no. 10; p. 1081
• Main Authors: Inizan, Catherine, O'Connor, Olivia, Worwor, George, Cabemaiwai, Talica, Grignon, Jean-Claude, Girault, Dominique, Minier, Marine, Prot, Matthieu, Ballan, Valentine, Pakoa, George Junior, Grangeon, Jean-Paul, Guyant, Philippe, Lepers, Christelle, Faktaufon, Daniel, Sahukhan, Aalisha, Merilles, Jr, Onofre Edwin, Gourinat, Ann-Claire, Simon-Lorière, Etienne, Dupont-Rouzeyrol, Myrielle
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 25.09.2020; MDPI
• Subjects: Base Sequence; Bayesian analysis; Biodiversity; Communication; dengue; Dengue - epidemiology; Dengue - virology; Dengue fever; Dengue Virus - classification; Dengue Virus - genetics; Dengue Virus - isolation & purification; Disease Outbreaks; E protein; Epidemiology; Evolution, Molecular; Genotype; Genotypes; Humans; Islands; Life Sciences; Microbiology and Parasitology; Molecular evolution; Pacific; Pacific Islands - epidemiology; Phylogenetics; Phylogeny; RNA, Viral - blood; RNA, Viral - genetics; Serogroup; Software; Strains (organisms); Systematics, Phylogenetics and taxonomy; Territory; Viral Envelope Proteins - genetics; Virology; Pacific Islands; Vanuatu; Fiji; Philippines; China; South Pacific; East Asia; Tuvalu; New Caledonia; Solomon Islands; phylogeny; Pacific; dengue; molecular evolution
• ISSN: 1999-4915; 1999-4915
• DOI: 10.3390/v12101081

Dengue virus (DENV) serotype-2 was detected in the South Pacific region in 2014 for the first time in 15 years. In 2016-2020, DENV-2 re-emerged in French Polynesia, Vanuatu, Wallis and Futuna, and New Caledonia, co-circulating with and later replacing DENV-1. In this context, epidemiological and molecular evolution data are paramount to decipher the diffusion route of this DENV-2 in the South Pacific region. In the current work, the gene from 23 DENV-2 serum samples collected in Vanuatu, Fiji, Wallis and Futuna, and New Caledonia was sequenced. Both maximum likelihood and Bayesian phylogenetic analyses were performed. While all DENV-2 strains sequenced belong to the Cosmopolitan genotype, phylogenetic analysis suggests at least three different DENV-2 introductions in the South Pacific between 2017 and 2020. Strains retrieved in these Pacific Islands Countries and Territories (PICTs) in 2017-2020 are phylogenetically related, with strong phylogenetic links between strains retrieved from French PICTs. These phylogenetic data substantiate epidemiological data of the DENV-2 diffusion pattern between these countries.