African Journal of Biotechnology Vol. 2 (11), pp. 460-464, November 2003

Full Length Research Paper

Some genetic characteristics of sabin-like poliovirus isolated from acute flaccid paralysis cases in Nigeria

Festus Doyin Adu^1*, Jane Iber², Tekena Harry³, Cara Burns², Oluseyi Oyedele¹, Johnson Adekunle Adeniji ¹, Mubarak Ossei-Kwasi ⁴ David  Kilpatrick² Oyewale Tomori⁵ and Olen Kew²

¹Department of Virology, College of Medicine, University of Ibadan, Nigeria.

²Division of Molecular Virology, Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta Georgia, USA.

³Dept of Immunology, University of Maiduguri  Teaching Hospital, Maiduguri, Nigeria.

⁴Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research Legon Ghana.

⁵WHO Regional Office Harare Zimbabwe

*Corresponding author. Email: akitikori@yahoo.com, ibadan-lab@who-nigeria.org.

Accepted 30 October 2003

A total of 34 sabin strains of the poliovirus isolated from 22 children with 60-day follow-up residual acute flaccid paralysis (AFP) were genetically characterized and screened for any form of recombination. Sequence analysis of the 906-nucleotide capsid showed that all the isolates were similar to their original sabin serotypes, however two of the viruses had drifted in their 3D noncapsid regions toward a sabin-sabin and sabin-nonpolio entero combination. Routine immunization in Nigeria is low and in spite of the increase in the frequency of supplemental immunizations, a lot of children are still inadequately immunized, which may be the reason for our observation in this study.  Although we are not dealing with a case of circulating vaccine derived poliovirus (cVDPV) yet, if the above condition persists, the advent of cVDVP may not be too far. There is therefore the need to maintain a high quality mass immunization and sustained routine immunization.  

Key words: Poliovirus, sequence, crossover, non polio enterovirus, recombination, genome, Sabin-like, vaccine, Nigeria.