Varicella zoster virus (VZV) is the causative agent of chickenpox and shingles. The geographic distribution of VZV clades was taken as evidence that VZV migrated out of Africa with human populations. We show that extant VZV strains most likely originated in Europe and not in Africa. Europe was also identified as the ancestral location for most internal nodes of the VZV phylogeny, including the ancestor of Glade 5 strains. We also show that strains from clades 1, 2, 3, and 5 derived a major proportion of their ancestry from each of 4 ancestral populations. Conversely, viruses from other clades displayed variable levels of admixture. Some low-level admixture was also observed for Glade 5 genomes, but only for non-African viruses. This pattern indicates that the Glade 5 VZV strains do not represent recent introductions from Africa due to migratory fluxes. These data have also relevance for the definition and classification of VZV clades.

Possible European Origin of Circulating Varicella Zoster Virus Strains / C. Pontremoli, D. Forni, M. Clerici, R. Cagliani, M. Sironi. - In: THE JOURNAL OF INFECTIOUS DISEASES. - ISSN 0022-1899. - 221:8(2020 Apr 15), pp. 1286-1294. [10.1093/infdis/jiz227]

Possible European Origin of Circulating Varicella Zoster Virus Strains

C. Pontremoli
;
D. Forni;M. Clerici;R. Cagliani;
2020

Abstract

Varicella zoster virus (VZV) is the causative agent of chickenpox and shingles. The geographic distribution of VZV clades was taken as evidence that VZV migrated out of Africa with human populations. We show that extant VZV strains most likely originated in Europe and not in Africa. Europe was also identified as the ancestral location for most internal nodes of the VZV phylogeny, including the ancestor of Glade 5 strains. We also show that strains from clades 1, 2, 3, and 5 derived a major proportion of their ancestry from each of 4 ancestral populations. Conversely, viruses from other clades displayed variable levels of admixture. Some low-level admixture was also observed for Glade 5 genomes, but only for non-African viruses. This pattern indicates that the Glade 5 VZV strains do not represent recent introductions from Africa due to migratory fluxes. These data have also relevance for the definition and classification of VZV clades.
varicella zoster virus; phylogeography; origin; admixture
Settore MED/04 - Patologia Generale
15-apr-2020
Article (author)
File in questo prodotto:
File Dimensione Formato  
jiz227.pdf

accesso aperto

Tipologia: Publisher's version/PDF
Dimensione 2.31 MB
Formato Adobe PDF
2.31 MB Adobe PDF Visualizza/Apri
Pubblicazioni consigliate

I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.

Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/2434/779362
Citazioni
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.pmc??? 5
  • Scopus 14
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.isi??? 10
social impact