Summary.
Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection among Venezuelan populations of African origin was analyzed. These populations exhibited lower HBV prevalence than the one found in the African continent. Sequence analysis of 6 isolates showed that 3 belonged to genotype F, while the 3 others were HBV genotype A. HBV genotype A was more common in the Afro-Venezuelan groups than in the general Venezuelan population. This might reflect the introduction of genotype A during the slavery period. The absence of the African genotype E among these isolates supports the hypothesis of a recent origin for this HBV genotype. HBV genotype F has already been introduced to these relatively isolated communities.
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Received February 18, 2002; accepted March 8, 2002 Published online July 22, 2002
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Quintero, A., Martínez, D., Alarcón de Noya, B. et al. Molecular epidemiology of hepatitis B virus in Afro-Venezuelan populations. Arch. Virol. 147, 1829–1836 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00705-002-0842-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00705-002-0842-2