Relación genética del virus dengue 1 aislado en Cuba durante la epidemia de 1977 Genetic relationship of dengue virus 1 isolated in Cuba, 1977

Introduction: Dengue is an acute disease caused by four dengue virus serotypes (DENV-1 to -4) and transmitted to humans by Aedes aegypti mosquitoes. The first laboratory confirmed dengue epidemic in Cuba occurred in 1977, with DENV-1 as the causative agent. It has been stated that the virus spread to several Latin American and Caribbean countries after being introduced in Jamaica in 1977. Objectives: perform a molecular characterization and determine the genetic relationship of DENV-1 isolated in Cuba in 1997. Methods: Based on a DENV-1 isolate obtained in Cuba in the year 1997 and preserved at the Strain Bank of the National Arbovirus Reference Laboratory (Pedro Kouri Tropical Medicine Institute), nucleotide amplification and sequencing was performed of the envelope gene using specific primers. Starting from the sequence obtained, a maximum likelihood phylogenetic tree was developed using sequences of DENV-1 strains circulating worldwide. Results: The DENV-1 isolate corresponding to the Cuban 1977 epidemic was classed as genotype I and genetically related to the reference strain Hawaii 1943. It is noteworthy that the remaining Latin American isolates from that period belong to genotype V, recognized as the American/African genotype. Conclusions: Results show that a DENV-1 strain of genotype I circulated during the Cuban 1977 epidemic. This is the first evidence of the presence of this genotype in the Latin American and Caribbean region. However, this finding does not rule out the possibility of co-circulation of genotypes I and V.