title: Epidemiology and molecular characteristics of norovirus GII.4 Sydney outbreaks in Taiwan, January 2012-December 2013.
abstract: In 2012, a new norovirus GII.4 variant (GII.4 Sydney) emerged and caused the majority of the acute gastroenteritis outbreaks in Australia, Asia, Europe, and North America. We examined the epidemiologic and molecular virologic characteristics of reported acute gastroenteritis outbreaks determined to be caused by norovirus in Taiwan from January 2012 to December 2013. A total of 253 (45.7%) of 552 reported acute gastroenteritis outbreaks tested positive for norovirus, of which 165 (65.5%) were typed as GII.4 Sydney. GII.4 Sydney outbreaks were reported from all geographic areas of Taiwan and occurred most frequently in schools (35.8%) and long-term care facilities (24.2%). Person-to-person transmission was identified in 116 (70.3%) of the outbreaks. Phylogenetic analyses of full-length ORF2 of eight specimens indicated that GII.4 Sydney strains detected in Taiwan were closely related to strains detected globally. Continued outbreak surveillance and strain typing are needed to provide information on epidemiologic and virologic trends of novel norovirus strains.
authors.affiliation: Centers for Disease Control, Taipei, Taiwan.|National Yang Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Fang-Tzy
authors.initials: FT
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Centers for Disease Control, Taipei, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Hsieh-Cheng
authors.initials: HC
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia.
authors.forename: Catherine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Yen
authors.affiliation: Centers for Disease Control, Taipei, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Ching-Yi
authors.initials: CY
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: National Institute of Infectious Diseases, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Kazuhiko
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Katayama
authors.affiliation: National Institute of Infectious Diseases, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: YoungBin
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Park
authors.affiliation: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia.
authors.forename: Aron J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Hall
authors.affiliation: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia.
authors.forename: Jan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Vinjé
authors.affiliation: National Yang Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Jason C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: Centers for Disease Control, Taipei, Taiwan.|School of Medical Laboratory Science and Biotechnology, Taipei Medical University, Taipei, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Ho-Sheng
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Wu
mesh_terms: D017250:Caliciviridae Infections / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000635:transmission / Q000821:virology*; D004196:Disease Outbreaks; D005243:Feces / Q000821:virology; D005759:Gastroenteritis / Q000821:virology; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D029322:Norovirus / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000472:pathogenicity; D010802:Phylogeny; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D013624:Taiwan / Q000453:epidemiology; D013997:Time Factors
keywords: epidemiology; norovirus GII.4 Sydney; outbreak; phylogenetic analysis