TY - JOUR
T1 - The global spread of HIV-1 subtype B epidemic
AU - De Luca, Andrea
AU - Magiorkinis, Gkikas
AU - Angelis, Konstantinos
AU - Mamais, Ioannis
AU - Katzourakis, Aris
AU - Hatzakis, Angelos
AU - Albert, Jan
AU - Lawyer, Glenn
AU - Hamouda, Osamah
AU - Struck, Daniel
AU - Vercauteren, Jurgen
AU - Wensing, Annemarie
AU - Alexiev, Ivailo
AU - Åsjö, Birgitta
AU - Balotta, Claudia
AU - Gomes, Perpétua
AU - Camacho, Ricardo J.
AU - Coughlan, Suzie
AU - Griskevicius, Algirdas
AU - Grossman, Zehava
AU - Horban, Anders
AU - Kostrikis, Leondios G.
AU - Lepej, Snjezana J.
AU - Liitsola, Kirsi
AU - Linka, Marek
AU - Nielsen, Claus
AU - Otelea, Dan
AU - Paredes, Roger
AU - Poljak, Mario
AU - Puchhammer-Stöckl, Elizabeth
AU - Schmit, Jean Claude
AU - Sönnerborg, Anders
AU - Staneková, Danica
AU - Stanojevic, Maja
AU - Stylianou, Dora C.
AU - Boucher, Charles A.B.
AU - Nikolopoulos, Georgios
AU - Vasylyeva, Tetyana
AU - Friedman, Samuel R.
AU - Van De Vijver, David
AU - Angarano, Gioacchino
AU - Chaix, Marie-Laure
AU - Korn, Klaus
AU - Loveday, Clive
AU - Soriano, Vincent
AU - Yerly, Sabine
AU - Zazzi, Mauricio
AU - Vandamme, Anne-Mieke
AU - Paraskevis, Dimitrios
PY - 2016
Y1 - 2016
N2 - Human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) was discovered in the early 1980s when the virus had already established a pandemic. For at least three decades the epidemic in the Western World has been dominated by subtype B infections, as part of a sub-epidemic that traveled from Africa through Haiti to United States. However, the pattern of the subsequent spread still remains poorly understood. Here we analyze a large dataset of globally representative HIV-1 subtype B strains to map their spread around the world over the last 50 years and describe significant spread patterns. We show that subtype B travelled from North America to Western Europe in different occasions, while Central/Eastern Europe remained isolated for the most part of the early epidemic. Looking with more detail in European countries we see that the United Kingdom, France and Switzerland exchanged viral isolates with non-European countries than with European ones. The observed pattern is likely to mirror geopolitical landmarks in the post-World War II era, namely the rise and the fall of the Iron Curtain and the European colonialism. In conclusion, HIV-1 spread through specific migration routes which are consistent with geopolitical factors that affected human activities during the last 50 years, such as migration, tourism and trade. Our findings support the argument that epidemic control policies should be global and incorporate political and socioeconomic factors.
AB - Human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) was discovered in the early 1980s when the virus had already established a pandemic. For at least three decades the epidemic in the Western World has been dominated by subtype B infections, as part of a sub-epidemic that traveled from Africa through Haiti to United States. However, the pattern of the subsequent spread still remains poorly understood. Here we analyze a large dataset of globally representative HIV-1 subtype B strains to map their spread around the world over the last 50 years and describe significant spread patterns. We show that subtype B travelled from North America to Western Europe in different occasions, while Central/Eastern Europe remained isolated for the most part of the early epidemic. Looking with more detail in European countries we see that the United Kingdom, France and Switzerland exchanged viral isolates with non-European countries than with European ones. The observed pattern is likely to mirror geopolitical landmarks in the post-World War II era, namely the rise and the fall of the Iron Curtain and the European colonialism. In conclusion, HIV-1 spread through specific migration routes which are consistent with geopolitical factors that affected human activities during the last 50 years, such as migration, tourism and trade. Our findings support the argument that epidemic control policies should be global and incorporate political and socioeconomic factors.
KW - Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics
KW - Genetics
KW - HIV-1
KW - Infectious Diseases
KW - Microbiology
KW - Microbiology (medical)
KW - Migration
KW - Migration pattern
KW - Molecular Biology
KW - Phylogeography
KW - Subtype B
KW - Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics
KW - Genetics
KW - HIV-1
KW - Infectious Diseases
KW - Microbiology
KW - Microbiology (medical)
KW - Migration
KW - Migration pattern
KW - Molecular Biology
KW - Phylogeography
KW - Subtype B
UR - http://hdl.handle.net/10807/94861
UR - http://www.elsevier.com/locate/meegid
U2 - 10.1016/j.meegid.2016.05.041
DO - 10.1016/j.meegid.2016.05.041
M3 - Article
VL - 46
SP - 169
EP - 179
JO - Infection, Genetics and Evolution
JF - Infection, Genetics and Evolution
SN - 1567-1348
ER -