Transmission of Hepatitis C Virus to Several Organ and Tissue Recipients from an Antibody-Negative Donor

View larger version (22K): [in a new window]   Figure 1. Transplantation of grafts from a donor with hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection, by month of transplantation and case status (n = 38), United States, 2000–2002. Dates of transplantation for 2 recipients were unknown. Hepatitis C virus infection was diagnosed in 3 recipients in September, October, and November 2001. These recipients had undergone transplantation in February 2001, October 2000, and April 2001, respectively.

View larger version (49K): [in a new window]   Figure 2. Unrooted phylogenetic tree of hypervariable region sequences of graft donor, graft recipients, and selected Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES III) participants, United States, 2000–2002. Each branch represents a different viral sequence, and small distances between branches suggest genetic relatedness. Sequences belonging to each NHANES III participant and a recipient known to have been infected before transplantation are marked by separate shaded regions. The size of each shaded region represents the genetic diversity of quasi-species from that specimen or group of specimens. Isolates belonging to the donor and 8 case-patients are clustered together.