Human T-cell Leukemia Virus Type 1 Molecular Variants, Vanuatu, Melanesia

Abstract

Four of 391 Ni-Vanuatu women were infected with variants of human T-cell leukemia virus type 1 (HTLV-1) Melanesian subtype C. These strains had env nucleotide sequences ≈99% similar to each other and diverging from the main molecular subtypes of HTLV-1 by 6% to 9%. These strains were likely introduced during ancient human population movements in Melanesia.

Keywords

• molecular epidemiology
• Human retrovirus
• HTLV-1
• Melanesia
• Vanuatu