Next-generation sequencing reveals frequent opportunities for exposure to hepatitis c virus in Ghana
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
12-1-2015
Abstract
Globally, hepatitis C Virus (HCV) infection is responsible for a large proportion of persons with liver disease, including cancer. The infection is highly prevalent in sub-Saharan Africa. West Africa was identified as a geographic origin of two HCV genotypes. However, little is known about the genetic composition of HCV populations in many countries of the region. Using conventional and next-generation sequencing (NGS), we identified and genetically characterized 65 HCV strains circulating among HCV-positive blood donors in Kumasi, Ghana. Phylogenetic analysis using consensus sequences derived from 3 genomic regions of the HCV genome, 5'-untranslated region, hypervariable region 1 (HVR1) and NS5B gene, consistently classified the HCV variants (n = 65) into genotypes 1 (HCV-1, 15%) and genotype 2 (HCV-2, 85%). The Ghanaian and West African HCV-2 NS5B sequences were found completely intermixed in the phylogenetic tree, indicating a substantial genetic heterogeneity of HCV-2 in Ghana. Analysis of HVR1 sequences from intra-host HCV variants obtained by NGS showed that three donors were infected with >1 HCV strain, including infections with 2 genotypes. Two other donors share an HCV strain, indicating HCV transmission between them. The HCV-2 strain sampled from one donor was replaced with another HCV-2 strain after only 2 months of observation, indicating rapid strain switching. Bayesian analysis estimated that the HCV-2 strains in Ghana were expanding since the 16th century. The blood donors in Kumasi, Ghana, are infected with a very heterogeneous HCV population of HCV-1 and HCV-2, with HCV-2 being prevalent. The detection of three cases of co-or super-infections and transmission linkage between 2 cases suggests frequent opportunities for HCV exposure among the blood donors and is consistent with the reported high HCV prevalence. The conditions for effective HCV-2 transmission existed for ∼ 3-4 centuries, indicating a long epidemic history of HCV-2 in Ghana.
Publication Source (Journal or Book title)
PLoS ONE
Recommended Citation
Forbi, J., Layden, J., Phillips, R., Mora, N., Xia, G., Campo, D., Purdy, M., Dimitrova, Z., Owusu, D., Punkova, L., Skums, P., Owusu-Ofori, S., Sarfo, F., Vaughan, G., Roh, H., Opare-Sem, O., Cooper, R., & Khudyakov, Y. (2015). Next-generation sequencing reveals frequent opportunities for exposure to hepatitis c virus in Ghana. PLoS ONE, 10 (12) https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0145530