The nucleotide (nt) sequence of a Hepatitis C virus genome (HCV-N) which was derived from a single Japanese patient's serum in Nagasaki Prefecture has been determined by multiple clones coverning 22 overlapping regions of the HCV geneme. The sequenced region consisted of 9295 nt, including 248 nt of 5'-untranslated region (UTR), a single large open reading frame (ORF) encoding a polyprotein of 3010 amino acids (aa) and a 17 nt of 3'-UTR. Phylogenetic analysis indicated that HCV-N belongs to II/1b genotype of group 1. Two other Nagasaki HCV strains (HCV-N1 and HCV-N2) were also sequenced in the E1 and N-terminus of the E2/NS1 regions. Two hypervariable regions (HVR 1 and HVR 2) were found in the N-terminus of E2/NS1 region among 3 Nagasaki strains and 7 other HCV strains with published sequences. Two well-conserved aa sequences were also identified among 10 HCV strains in the El and N-terminus of the E2/NS1 regions. The results will be useful for future understanding on the pathogenesis, virological diagnosis and development of vaccine for HCV.

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Serological examination of leprosy in endemic areas of cutaneous leishmaniasis were carried out using the sera collected during a survey for cutaneous leishmaniasis and several parasitic diseases in Ecuador. There was no correlation between prevalence rates for leprosy and seropositive rates of the antibodies (anti-PGL-I and LAM-B antibodies) in the subjects living in several provinces in Ecuador. Seropositive rates of anti-PGL-I antibodies of the leprosy patients and their families in Los Ranchos, Department of Manabi, were relatively high (84.6%, 11/13) in comparison with the average seropositive rates (42.4%, 154/365) of the subjects from other areas of Ecuador. It was suggested that serological survey of families of leprosy patients might be useful for screening of household contacts in a low endemic areas, such as Department of Manabi, Ecuador.

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Forty eight members belonged to Japan Self Defense Force took part in ONUMOZ (Operation des Nations Unisis en Mozambique) as the second Movement Control Company from Nov. 1993 to Jun. 1994. I belonged to the company and stayed in Mozambique during the period. As malaria is rampant in Mozambique, I used mefloquin 250mg/week as prophylaxis follwing the recommendations of ONUMOZ, W.H.O. and the Ministry of Health in France. In view of the necessary concentration of the drug and the incubation period of Plasmodium falciparum, we took the drug from the day one week before we left Japan to the day four weeks after returning. The total tablets each members took was 36 (except for four who dropped out). We investigated the symptomatic and laboratory side effects of this prophylactic treatment.
The following symptoms were observed as side effects of mefloquin : general fatigue 16.7%, headache 12.5%, nausea & vomiting 4.2%, vertigo 2.1%, diarrhea 2.1% (two cases each of general fatigue and headache overlapped). Mean WBC was evevated post-return in comparison to pre-departure. Liver function of four cases deteriorated slightly in comparison to pre-departure, three months after arriving, and post-return. Two each members who suffered general fatigue and headache prolonged the period of taking the drug for one week to two weeks from 4 months after arriving to 4 weeks after returning because the symptoms had worsened. But there were no serious side effects during the prophylactic period.
Over 200 members of ONUMOZ contracted malaria from Feb. 1994 to Apr. 1994, but I had no malaria outbreak in the Japanese contingent.
ONUMOZ provided mefloquin to all members for prophylaxis and two out of three field hospital used mefloquin for malaria treatment as the first choice, but no malaria resistant to mefloquin had been reported as of the beginning of August 1994.
We conclude that mefloquin is effective for malaria prophylaxis in Mozambique, and minor side effects are observed in only 33.3% of subjects in good health.

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[Case] The patient was a Japanese female, 70 years of age, living in Funabashi, Chiba, and had never been abroad. The woman was suffering from thrombocytopenia and received a total of 60 units of platelet concentrate during the period, 4-13 April, 1991. On April 24, she manifested a fever of 39°C which was successfully treated with Voltaren Suppo^TM, a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug. Her body temperature remained normal until May 1, when she suddenly developed symptoms of cerebral malaria, liver and renal dysfunctions. In the early morning of May 2, she lost consciousness and went into cardiac arrest. Giemsa stained thin blood smears obtained for blood cytological examination which were kept at the laboratory of the hospital, later revealed that she had contracted Plasmodium falciparum malaria. The parasitemia from examination of the slides were 0% on April 2, 0% on April 17, 0.06% on April 25, 5.5% on May 1 and 1.9% just before her death on May 2. Antibody titers against P.f. antigen were < 1 : 4 on April 25, 1 : 256 on May 1 and May 2. These parasitological and serological results confirmed that she accidentally received transmission of P. f. through platelet transfusion.
The possibility of transmission of malaria through platelet transfusion has been discussed by Fajardo and Tallent (1974), who showed the existence of the parasite in a platelet of a P. v. infected patient by electron microscopy. Nevertheless, since platelet packs may contain some red blood cells, parasites could be carried by erythrocytes, platelets or both. Still, this report is the first case of induced malaria resulting from platelet transfusion, and the 75th case of transfused malaria in Japan since 1935.
As the number of Japanese who went abroad and of foreigners who entered Japan increased, so did the number of imported malaria cases, which were reported to be not less than 100 in 1993. Therefore malaria is no longer recognized as a very rare disease in Japan, and the risk of transfused malaria from donors who have come back from malaria endemic places has to be taken into careful consideration. To date, routine examinations on blood supplied at Blood Centers are for hepatitis B and C, syphilis, adult T cell leukemia, and AIDS, but not for malaria. The questionnaire which is used in obtaining the medical history of donors rarely includes inquiries on a past history of malaria. Special attention has to be made for the safety of blood transfusion, reminding the danger of malaria transmission.

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Female mosquitoes including Culex pipiens pallens, the main vector of Dirofilaria immitis, and some secondary vectors, were collected at 4 to 10 sites in Nagasaki City from 1983 to 1989 using light traps, and the number of the mosquitoes and the natural infection rate with D. immitis were compared between the southern and the northern parts of the city. In 1983, Cx. p. pallens was extremely prevalent in the southern part but not in the northern part. After 1986, the prevalence of Cx. p. pallens became very low in both the parts. The rapid decrease of prevalence of this species may be attributable to the decrease in breeding sites by improvement of roads and open roadside ditches in parallel with spread of sewage systems. On the basis of the number of infected mosquitoes in Nagasaki City, it was suggested that, Cx. tritaeniorhynchus and Ae. albopictus are important vectors in addition to Cx. p. pallens, but Ae. togoi does not play a significant role in the transmission of D. immitis.

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A new blackfly species, Simulium (Morops) kerei sp. nov. is described based on male and pupal specimens collected from the Solomon Islands, South Pacific. This species is placed in the farciminis-group by the pupal gill consisting of 1 inflated, horn-like filament and 4 slender filaments. This species is unique in possessing the parameral hooks in the male genitalia which are absent in all the Papua New Guinean Morops species. From the known species of the farciminis-group, this species is easily distinguished by the absence of the distinct hair crest on the male fore basitarsus, and in the pupa by the plate-like terminal hooks, all terga well-sclerotized, and the normal, wall-pocket-shaped cocoon covering whole of the thorax and abdomen. This is the first record of the farciminis-group of the subgenus Morops from the Solomon Islands.

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The inhibition titers of sera from adult residents in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania to intraerythrocytic growth of Plasmodium falciparum were not correlated to their antibody titers by immunofluorescence and enzyme immunoassay, and did not exhibit specificity to the strain with a certain MSA-1 gene. Another inhibitory factor (s) was found in a low molecular fraction with molecular weight less than 30, 000 that was separated from a high molecular fraction by centrifugation on a membrane filter (centriprep-30, Amicon) This factor induced morphological changes of intraerythrocytic parasites and was thought to correspond to crisis form factor (CFF) by Jensen et al. (1982). The factor was shown to remain in the serum of an adult Tanzanian who had lived in a non-malarious area six months prior to the commencement of this study and to be contained in a hyperimmune serum from a Japanese patient even though on a low level.

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Four cases of patients with leprosy were seen in an area endemic for cutaneous leishmaniasis, Los Ranchos, Department of Manabi, Ecuador. Two cases of them (borderline lepromatous leprosy and indeterminate one) in a single family and result of screenings for the family members were reported. It was suggested that family examination of leprosy patient might be useful for early detection of leprosy in a low endemic areas for leprosy, such as Department of Manabi. A nine banded armadillo kept by the family was examined, but no acid-fast bacilli was observed in the liver materials.

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