Nucleotide sequence and phylogenetic analyses of dengue type 2 virus isolated in the Dominican Republic

Dengue virus infection has been recognized as an important public health problem in the Dominican Republic in the last decade. Complete genomic sequences of three strains of dengue type 2 (DEN-2) virus, DR23/01 and DR31/01 isolated from dengue fever (DF) patients, and DR59/01 isolated from a dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF) patient, all with primary infection, in the Dominican Republic in 2001, have been established. This achievement constitutes the first genomic characterization of DEN-2 strains from the Dominican Republic. No amino acid differences were observed between the strains isolated from DHF and DF patients. They exhibited extensive homology with the strain from La Martinique, French West Indies. Although phylogenetic analysis was suggestive of their Southeast Asiatic origin, Dominican Republic strains and other Caribbean strains from La Martinique and Jamaica showed 26 amino acid changes that differed from both the Southeast Asia and native American genotypes.