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Journal of Clinical Microbiology, November 2002, p. 4148-4155, Vol. 40, No. 11
0095-1137/02/$04.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/JCM.40.11.4148-4155.2002
Copyright © 2002, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Molecular Characterization of Hepatitis A Virus Isolates from a Transcontinental Shellfish-Borne Outbreak

Glòria Sánchez,1 Rosa M. Pintó,1 Hermelinda Vanaclocha,2 and Albert Bosch1*

Department of Microbiology, University of Barcelona, Barcelona,1 Department of Epidemiology, Generalitat Valenciana, Valencia, Spain2

Received 24 April 2002/ Returned for modification 15 June 2002/ Accepted 5 August 2002

One hundred eighty-four serologically confirmed cases of hepatitis A were reported in eastern Spain in 1999. A matched case-control study implicated imported coquina clams complying with European Union shellfish standards as the source of infection; this implication was confirmed by the detection by reverse transcription-PCR of hepatitis A virus (HAV) RNA in shellfish samples. In spite of the recognized low variability of HAV, genetic characterization of the complete capsid region of virus isolates from patient serum samples revealed the existence of both synonymous and nonsynonymous variants. Two antigenic variants were detected, one in a discontinuous epitope defined by monoclonal antibody K3-4C8 and a second in a linear VP1 epitope of the virus. In spite of these antigenic variants, all isolates were assigned to genotype IB, providing further evidence that the outbreak originated from a common source, although multiple strains were likely to be involved.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Microbiology, School of Biology, University of Barcelona, Diagonal 645, 08028 Barcelona, Spain. Phone: (34) 934034620. Fax: (34) 934034629. E-mail: abosch{at}ub.edu.

Journal of Clinical Microbiology, November 2002, p. 4148-4155, Vol. 40, No. 11
0095-1137/02/$04.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/JCM.40.11.4148-4155.2002
Copyright © 2002, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



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Copyright © 2002 by the American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.