AUTHOR=Seki Fumio , Miyoshi Masahiro , Ikeda Tatsuya , Nishijima Haruna , Saikusa Miwako , Itamochi Masae , Minagawa Hiroko , Kurata Takako , Ootomo Rei , Kajiwara Jumboku , Kato Takashi , Komase Katsuhiro , Tanaka-Taya Keiko , Sunagawa Tomimasa , Oishi Kazunori , Okabe Nobuhiko , Kimura Hirokazu , Suga Shigeru , Kozawa Kunihisa , Otsuki Noriyuki , Mori Yoshio , Shirabe Komei , Takeda Makoto , Measles Virus Surveillance Group of Japan , Technical Support Team for Measles Control in Japan , Komagome Rika , Ohnishi Asami , Saito Hiroyuki , Sasaki Mie , Komabayashi Kenichi , Kanari Atsuko , Tamura Tsutomu , Yamamoto Kazunari , Ishikawa Kanako , Mizukoshi Fuminori , Tsukagoshi Hiroyuki , Ogawa Yasutaka , Nakada Takashi , Kasuga Ai , Ogawa Tomoko , Yokoi Hajime , Suzuki Rieko , Shimizu Hideaki , Kanazawa Satoko , Oonuma Masayuki , Environ Nagano , Nishizawa Kanako , Okamura Yuichiro , Ikegaya Asaka , Maehata Takaharu , Furuta Toshihiko , Nakazawa Masaya , Yasui Yoshihiro , Shibata Shinichiro , Kuzuguchi Tsuyoshi , Tanaka Yasunori , Kusuhara Hajime , Aoki Kayo , Hirata Sachi , Nagasao Akiko , Kanbayashi Daiki , Kaida Atsushi , Miyoshi Tatsuya , Ogi Miki , Uemura Taku , Kawanishi Shinya , Hiragakiuchi Masaki , Inada Machi , Nishiyama Takashi , Tatsumi Chika , Hamano Masako , Shigemoto Naoki , Yoshiki Fujii , Murata Sachiko , Terajima Yukari , Kawakami Yumiko , Ashizuka Yuki , Wasano Chinami , Tachibana Misato , Honda Akiko , Sakai Takashi , Nishizawa Kaori , Matsuura Yu , Gokuden Mutsuyo , Oyama Minori , Someya Kenji , Nakatsu Yuichiro , Tahara Maino , Sakai Kouji , Yamada Yukari , Ueno-Yamamoto Kumi , Tada Yuki , Shimada Tomoe , Yamashita Kazuyo , Kinoshita Hitomi , Takahashi Takuri , Nakashima Kazutoshi , Kamiya Hajime , Taniguchi Kiyosu , Yasui Yoshinori TITLE=Nationwide Molecular Epidemiology of Measles Virus in Japan Between 2008 and 2017 JOURNAL=Frontiers in Microbiology VOLUME=10 YEAR=2019 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/microbiology/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2019.01470 DOI=10.3389/fmicb.2019.01470 ISSN=1664-302X ABSTRACT=

Genotyping evidence that supports the interruption of endemic measles virus (MV) transmission is one of the essential criteria to be verified in achieving measles elimination. In Japan since 2014, MV genotype analyses have been performed for most of the measles cases in prefectural public health institutes nationwide. With this strong molecular epidemiological data, Japan was verified to have eliminated measles in March, 2015. However, even in the postelimination era, sporadic cases and small outbreaks of measles have been detected repeatedly in Japan. This study investigated the nationwide molecular epidemiology of MV between 2008 and 2017. The 891 strains in the total period between 2008 and 2017 belonged to seven genotypes (D5, D4, D9, H1, G3, B3, and D8) and 124 different MV sequence variants, based on the 450-nucleotide sequence region of the N gene (N450). The 311 MV strains in the postelimination era between 2015 and 2017 were classified into 1, 7, 8, and 32 different N450 sequence variants in D9, H1, B3, and D8 genotypes, respectively. Analysis of the detection period of the individual N450 sequence variants showed that the majority of MV strains were detected only for a short period. However, MV strains, MVs/Osaka.JPN/29.15/ [D8] and MVi/Hulu Langat.MYS/26.11/ [D8], which are named strains designated by World Health Organization (WHO), have been detected in many cases over 2 or 3 years between 2015 and 2017. The WHO-named strains have circulated worldwide, causing outbreaks in many countries. Epidemiological investigation revealed repeated importation of these WHO-named strains into Japan. To demonstrate the elimination status (interruption of endemic transmission) in situations with repeated importation of the same strains is challenging. Nevertheless, the detailed sequence analysis of individual MV strains and chronological analysis of these strains provided sufficient evidence to show that Japan has still maintained its measles elimination status in 2017.