Recent emergence and spread of an Arctic-related phylogenetic lineage of rabies virus in Nepal

• Published in: PLoS neglected tropical diseases Vol. 7; no. 11; p. e2560
• Main Authors: Pant, Ganesh R, Lavenir, Rachel, Wong, Frank Y K, Certoma, Andrea, Larrous, Florence, Bhatta, Dwij R, Bourhy, Hervé, Stevens, Vittoria, Dacheux, Laurent
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Public Library of Science 01.11.2013; Public Library of Science (PLoS)
• Subjects: Animals; Cluster Analysis; Data processing; Developing countries; Distribution; Epidemiology; Genetic aspects; Genetic diversity; Genetic Variation; Geography; Humans; Identification and classification; LDCs; Livestock; Mammals; Medical geography; Microbiology; Molecular Epidemiology; Molecular Sequence Data; Nepal - epidemiology; Phylogenetics; Phylogeny; Phylogeography; Rabies; Rabies - veterinary; Rabies - virology; Rabies virus; Rabies virus - classification; Rabies virus - genetics; Rabies virus - isolation & purification; RNA, Viral - genetics; Sequence Analysis, DNA; Viral Proteins - genetics; Viruses; Nepal; Humans; Phylogeography; Molecular Sequence Data; Viral Proteins; Rabies virus; Sequence Analysis, DNA; Genetic Variation; Animals; Molecular Epidemiology; RNA, Viral; Rabies; Nepal; Cluster Analysis
• ISSN: 1935-2735; 1935-2727; 1935-2735
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0002560

Rabies is a zoonotic disease that is endemic in many parts of the developing world, especially in Africa and Asia. However its epidemiology remains largely unappreciated in much of these regions, such as in Nepal, where limited information is available about the spatiotemporal dynamics of the main etiological agent, the rabies virus (RABV). In this study, we describe for the first time the phylogenetic diversity and evolution of RABV circulating in Nepal, as well as their geographical relationships within the broader region. A total of 24 new isolates obtained from Nepal and collected from 2003 to 2011 were full-length sequenced for both the nucleoprotein and the glycoprotein genes, and analysed using neighbour-joining and maximum-likelihood phylogenetic methods with representative viruses from all over the world, including new related RABV strains from neighbouring or more distant countries (Afghanistan, Greenland, Iran, Russia and USA). Despite Nepal's limited land surface and its particular geographical position within the Indian subcontinent, our study revealed the presence of a surprising wide genetic diversity of RABV, with the co-existence of three different phylogenetic groups: an Indian subcontinent clade and two different Arctic-like sub-clades within the Arctic-related clade. This observation suggests at least two independent episodes of rabies introduction from neighbouring countries. In addition, specific phylogenetic and temporal evolution analysis of viruses within the Arctic-related clade has identified a new recently emerged RABV lineage we named as the Arctic-like 3 (AL-3) sub-clade that is already widely spread in Nepal.