Molecular Characterization of Measles Virus among Children in Parts of North Western Nigeria

Measles virus belonging to the genus Morbillivirus in the family PARAMYXOVIRIDAE is an enveloped virus with a non-segmented, negative-strand RNA genome (Griffin, 2001). It is 100 – 200 nm in diameter and two membrane envelope proteins are important in pathogenesis which are the F (fusion) protein, which is responsible for fusion of virus and host cell membranes, viral penetration, and hemolysis, and the H (hemagglutinin) protein, which is responsible for adsorption of virus to cells (Bellini et al., 2005). The World Health Organization (WHO) currently recognizes 8 clades designated A, B, C, D, E, F, G, and H. Within these clades, there are 23 recognized genotypes, designated A, B1, B2, B3, C1, C2, D1, D2, D3, D4, D5, D6, D7, D8, D9, D10, E, F, G1, G2, G3, H1, and H2, and one provisional genotype, d11 (WHO, 2015).