{Reference Type}: Journal Article
{Title}: First case of molecularly identified and genetically characterized human T-cell leukemia virus type 2 infection in a pregnant woman in non-endemic Japan.
{Author}: Kuramitsu M;Okuma K;Horiya M;Sekizuka T;Kaneko N;Saito E;Sokunaga J;Kuroda M;Hamaguchi I;
{Journal}: J Virol Methods
{Volume}: 287
{Issue}: 0
{Year}: 01 2021
{Factor}: 2.623
{DOI}: 10.1016/j.jviromet.2020.114005
{Abstract}: Human T-cell leukemia virus type 2 (HTLV-2) is non-endemic in Japan unlike the related HTLV type 1. Previously, although HTLV-2-seropositivity was identified via western blotting in one male blood donor in Japan, there have been no reports of HTLV-2 provirus detection by nucleic acid testing. In this report, one Japanese pregnant woman was clinically diagnosed as being HTLV-2-infected with a line immunoassay for specific antibodies after primary testing through prenatal screening in Japan. In genomic DNA of her peripheral blood mononuclear cells, HTLV-2 proviral genome was detected by nucleic acid testing (three methods) with quantitative polymerase chain reaction. The full-genome sequence of this strain was successfully determined. The identified virus was interestingly characterized as a presumed progenitor of subtypes a and c by recombination region and phylogenetic tree analyses. In conclusion, the present infection is, to our knowledge, the first case of molecularly identified and genetically characterized HTLV-2 infection found via prenatal screening in non-endemic Japan.