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Human T lymphotropic virus type I infection in Papua New Guinea: high prevalence among the Hagahai confirmed by western analysis.

A serologic survey for human T lymphotropic virus type I (HTLV-I) infection was conducted on nearly half of the entire 260-member Hagahai population, a hunter-horticulturist group occupying the northern banks of the Yuat River Gorge in Madang Province of Papua New Guinea. For comparison, sera from two neighboring groups, the Pinai and Haruai, were tested. As determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and verified by Western immunoblot, IgG antibodies against HTLV-I were detected in 17 of 120 Hagahai, giving an HTLV-I seroprevalence of 14%, which is as high as that found in HTLV-I-endemic regions such as southwestern Japan and the Caribbean basin. Infection tended to cluster in family groups and was more common with increasing age. The majority of ELISA-positive (45/61) Hagahai sera were indeterminate, with 62% (28/45) exhibiting reactivity to three or more gag-encoded proteins. The clinical significance of the high frequency of indeterminate HTLV-I Western immunoblots is unknown, but it is not unlike that encountered in other Melanesian populations. Whether this reflects incomplete specific reactivity to HTLV-I or the existence of HTLV-I-related retroviruses in Papua New Guinea is being investigated.

Age Factors↗

LTR sequence and phylogenetic analyses of a newly discovered variant of HTLV-I isolated from the Hagahai of Papua New Guinea.

A 631-bp region of the long terminal repeat (LTR) of a variant of human T-cell lymphoma/leukemia virus type I (HTLV-I), isolated from a healthy member of a remote, recently contacted group (Hagahai) in Papua New Guinea, was sequenced and compared to LTR sequences of other members of the primate T-cell lymphoma virus group (PTLV), including HTLV-I, simian T-cell lymphoma virus (STLV-I) and HTLV-II. Sequence analysis of the LTR of this New Guinean isolate, designated as HTLV-I(PNG-1), indicated a sequence divergence of 8.4% to 10.4% from prototype Japanese HTLV-I(ATK) and other HTLV-I and STLV-I isolates and 48.6% diversity from HTLV-II. Few mutations were found in the core elements of the transcriptional enhancer regions, the TATA box promoter, and the polyadenylation signal and site. Further, the observed changes did not significantly alter the inferred stability of the Rex response element, a stem loop structure critical for polyadenylation and Rex protein binding. Dendograms based on LTR sequences indicated that the strain of virus that evolved into HTLV-I(PNG-1) diverged from the other PTLV in the distant past, just after the progenitors of STLV-I from Asia, but before the ancestors of STLV-I from Africa. By contrast, other HTLV-I isolates were found to represent strains of virus that have diverged more recently and clustered primarily according to their geographical origin. These data confirm that HTLV-I(PNG-1) is a new and distinct variant of the PTLV group. Also, our analyses suggest that both HTLV-I and STLV-I may have originated in the Indo-Malay region and eventually spread to Africa and then to the New World and Japan with horizontal transmission between man and nonhuman primates possibly occurring over thousands of years.

Base Sequence↗

Health in the early contact period: a contemporary example from Papua New Guinea.

In 1984 a rare opportunity arose to document the effects of contact on a previously isolated population in Papua New Guinea. The Hagahai, a small group of hunter-horticulturalists, remained hidden from government and mission influence until the early 1980s. Prior to that time, indirect contact through trade with neighboring peoples facilitated the entry of introduced infectious diseases. In late 1983 the Hagahai sought medical aid at a mission station, an event which accelerated their contact with the common epidemic diseases of the highlands. A wide variety of genetic, linguistic, ethnographic and medical data have been collected which document the historical sequence of events contributing to the current rapid demographic decline among the Hagahai. Serological evidence demonstrates the endemicity of Bancroftian filariasis, malaria, C. diphtheriae, cytomegalovirus, HTLV-1, the Ross River arbovirus and several viruses associated with the common cold. Recent epidemics include mumps, influenza A, and hepatitis B. They have not yet been affected by TB or measles, among others. Infanticide contributes to an estimated infant mortality rate of 568/1000. With a crude birth rate of 38 and a crude mortality rate of 51, the Hagahai appear to be dying out. The provision of adequate health care to these people is extremely problematic and beyond the capacity of the existing system.

Adolescent↗

Control of lymphatic filariasis in a hunter-gatherer group in Madang Province.

Diethylcarbamazine (DEC) has been successfully administered to millions of people in established villages and towns, but little or no information exists on the use of this drug to control lymphatic filariasis in isolated seminomadic groups. We have studied the impact of biannual single-dose mass treatment to control filariasis in the Hagahai, an isolated hunter-gatherer, shifting horticulturist group in the fringe highlands of Papua New Guinea. Despite low treatment coverage, 6 mass treatment rounds significantly reduced the overall prevalence of infection with Wuchereria bancrofti, by antigen detection assay, from 55% before treatment to 34% after treatment. Obstructive filarial disease in the form of elephantiasis or hydrocele was not observed among the indigenous population. Anopheles species accounted for 91% of human-biting mosquitoes collected in the area. A total of 1126 mosquitoes were caught and dissected individually but none was infected with third-stage larvae (L3). Our findings support the phenomenon of facilitation, which predicts that Anopheles-transmitted lymphatic filariasis can be interrupted by mass chemotherapy alone in areas of low vector density and low transmission intensity as observed in the Hagahai.

Diethylcarbamazine↗

Immunogenetic studies of two recently contacted populations from Papua New Guinea.

We have examined the HLA profiles of the Hagahai and the Haruai people, two linguistic groups in the remote western Schrader mountains who have only recently had administrative contact, and compared them with those of other populations in Papua New Guinea. None of the antigens detected in the two groups was found missing in other populations although significant differences in allele frequencies exist. Recent contact history does not appear to have played any significant role in shaping these differences. Similarly, no evidence of differential selection pressures contributing to HLA heterogeneity was found. The genetic profiles of the Hagahai and the Haruai appear to be a result of recent admixture between unrelated, genetically disparate groups.

Culture↗

Characterization of a variant of human T-lymphotropic virus type I isolated from a healthy member of a remote, recently contacted group in Papua New Guinea.

We report the characterization of a variant of human T-lymphotropic virus type I (HTLV-I) isolated from an interleukin 2-dependent, CD8+ T-cell line derived from peripheral blood mononuclear cells of a healthy member of a remote, recently contacted hunter-horticulturalist group (Hagahai) in Madang province of Papua New Guinea. Antigenic characterization of this variant, designated PNG-1, by immunofluorescence, indicated no expression of gag-encoded proteins p19 and p24 (even after incubation with 5-bromo-2'-deoxyuridine), using monoclonal and polyclonal antibodies against HTLV-I gag gene products. Virus-specific proteins of 15, 19, 46, 53, and 61/68 kDa were demonstrated by Western blot analysis, using sera from patients with serologically and/or virologically confirmed HTLV-I myeloneuropathy, sera from HTLV-I-infected rabbits, and antibodies prepared against the C terminus of the major envelope glycoprotein gp46. Restriction endonuclease maps of PNG-1 proviral DNA differed from that of a prototype strain of HTLV-I (MT-2), but, as verified by polymerase chain reaction, PNG-1 was definitely HTLV-I, not HTLV-II. Nucleotide sequencing and further molecular genetic studies of this variant may provide insights into the origin and evolution of HTLV-I.

Cells, Cultured↗

Evolutionary insights on the origin of human T-cell lymphoma/leukemia virus type I (HTLV-I) derived from sequence analysis of a new HTLV-I variant from Papua New Guinea.

Recent studies have established the presence of human T-cell lymphoma/leukemia virus type I (HTLV-I) in Melanesia. An HTLV-I strain, PNG-1, has now been isolated from a healthy member of the Hagahai, a remote, recently contacted group in Papua New Guinea. To further characterize PNG-1, we employed polymerase chain reaction amplification with subsequent cloning and sequencing of amplified products. Sequence analyses of amplified regions of pol, env, and pX genes of this variant indicate marked heterogeneity (approximately 7%) from prototype HTLV-I. Based on available sequence data, PNG-1 is distinct from all other known HTLV-I strains and diverges from the common ancestor of HTLV-I prior to prototype isolates. The data also suggest, therefore, that HTLV-I originated in the Indo-Malay region rather than Africa.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Bancroftian filariasis in an isolated hunter-gatherer shifting horticulturist group in Papua New Guinea.

A survey for Wuchereria bancrofti microfilaraemia using membrane filtration was carried out among the Hagahai, a recently contacted Papua New Guinea group of hunter-gatherer shifting horticulturists. Adult men had a significantly higher microfilaraemia rate than women. Children aged > 15 years had significantly fewer infections than adults and the microfilaraemia densities were considerably lower. Two subjects exhibited matutinal microfilarial periodicity, peaking at approximately 06 h 00. The possible reasons for the epidemiological and microfilarial findings are discussed.

Adolescent↗

The West knows best?

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Cell Line↗