Gastroenteritis Outbreaks Associated with the Emergence of the New GII.4 Sydney Norovirus Variant during the Epidemic of 2012/13 in Shenzhen City, China.
Noroviruses (NoVs) are the leading cause of gastroenteritis outbreaks in humans worldwide. Since late 2012, a new GII.4 variant Sydney 2012 has caused a significant increase in NoV epidemics in several countries. From November of 2012 to January of 2013, three gastroenteritis outbreaks occurred in two social welfare homes (Outbreaks A and B) and a factory (Outbreak C) in Shenzhen city of China. Feces and swabs were collected for laboratory tests for causative agents. While no bacterial pathogen was identified, all three outbreaks were caused by NoVs with detection rates of 26.2% (16/61) at Outbreak A, 35.2% (38/108) at Outbreak B), and 59.3% (16/27) at Outbreaks C. For Outbreak B, 25 of the 29 symptomatic individuals (86.2%) and 13 of the 79 asymptomatic individuals (16.5%) were found NoV-positive. For Outbreak C, an asymptomatic food handler was NoV-positive. All thirteen NoV sequences from the three outbreaks were classified into genogroup II and genotype 4 (GII.4), which we identified to be the GII.4 Sydney 2012 variant. The genome of two isolates from Outbreaks A and B were recombinant with the opening reading frame (ORF) 1 of GII.4 Osaka 2007 and ORF2 and 3 of the GII.4 New Orleans. Our study indicated that the GII.4 Sydney 2012 variant emerged and caused the outbreaks in China.
Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China.|Shenzhen Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Shenzhen, China.
Yaqing
Y
He
Key Laboratory of Medical Virology and Viral Diseases; National Institute for Viral Disease Control and Prevention, China CDC, Beijing, China.
Miao
M
Jin
Key Laboratory of Medical Virology and Viral Diseases; National Institute for Viral Disease Control and Prevention, China CDC, Beijing, China.
Kena
K
Chen
Shenzhen Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Shenzhen, China.
Hailong
H
Zhang
Shenzhen Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Shenzhen, China.
Hong
H
Yang
Shenzhen Luohu Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Shenzhen, China.
Fei
F
Zhuo
Shenzhen Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Shenzhen, China.
Dejian
D
Zhao
Shenzhen Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Shenzhen, China.
Huatang
H
Zeng
Shenzhen Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Shenzhen, China.
Xiangjie
X
Yao
Shenzhen Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Shenzhen, China.
Zhen
Z
Zhang
Shenzhen Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Shenzhen, China.
Long
L
Chen
Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China.
Yuanping
Y
Zhou
Key Laboratory of Medical Virology and Viral Diseases; National Institute for Viral Disease Control and Prevention, China CDC, Beijing, China.
Zhao-Jun
ZJ
Duan
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D017250:Caliciviridae Infections / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000821:virology*; D036022:Capsid Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D004196:Disease Outbreaks; D058872:Epidemics; D005243:Feces / Q000821:virology; D005260:Female; D005759:Gastroenteritis / Q000821:virology*; D014644:Genetic Variation; D016679:Genome, Viral / Q000235:genetics; D005838:Genotype; D054884:Host-Pathogen Interactions; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D029322:Norovirus / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology*; D016366:Open Reading Frames / Q000235:genetics; D010802:Phylogeny; D015995:Prevalence; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA
D036022:Capsid Proteins