title: Molecular phylogeny of a novel human adenovirus type 8 strain causing a prolonged, multi-state keratoconjunctivitis epidemic in Germany.
abstract: The German infectious disease surveillance system revealed an increase of epidemic keratoconjunctivitis (EKC) from an average of 320 cases/year (2001 to 2010) up to 2146 and 1986 cases in 2012 and 2013, respectively. From November 2011 until December 2013 (epidemic period) 85% of typed isolates were human adenovirus type 8 (HAdV-D8), whereas only low level circulation (19%) of HAdV-D8 was observed outside the epidemic period. In order to investigate whether a novel monophyletic HAdV-D8 strain prevailed during the epidemic period, complete genomic sequences of 23 HAdV-D8 isolates were generated by deep sequencing and analyzed phylogenetically. For comparison, eight HAdV-D8 isolates from outside the epidemic period were sequenced. HAdV-D8 isolates of the epidemic period had a very high sequence identity of at least 99.9% and formed a monophyletic cluster with two subclusters. A single outlier was closely related to HAdV-D8 strains isolated prior to the epidemic period. Circulation of the epidemic strain was detected as early as 2010 but not after the epidemic period in 2014. In conclusion, molecular phylogeny of complete genomic sequences proved a monophyletic HAdV-D8 epidemic. However, co-circulation of other HAdV types as well as better reporting may have contributed to the huge increase of reported cases.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Virology, Konsiliarlabor für Adenoviren (KLA, Adenovirus Reference Laboratory); Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany.
authors.forename: Elias
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Hage
authors.affiliation: Department for Infectious Disease Epidemiology, Unit for Nosocomial Infections, Surveillance of Antimicrobial Resistance and Consumption, Robert Koch Institut, Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Werner
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Espelage
authors.affiliation: Department for Infectious Disease Epidemiology, Unit for Nosocomial Infections, Surveillance of Antimicrobial Resistance and Consumption, Robert Koch Institut, Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Tim
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Eckmanns
authors.affiliation: Wadsworth Center, New York State Department of Health, Albany, NY, USA.
authors.forename: Daryl M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Lamson
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Genome Sciences, Division of Bioengineering and Bioinformatics, Graduate School of Information Science and Technology, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Japan.
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Pantó
authors.affiliation: Institute of Virology, Konsiliarlabor für Adenoviren (KLA, Adenovirus Reference Laboratory); Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany.
authors.forename: Tina
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ganzenmueller
authors.affiliation: Institute of Virology, Konsiliarlabor für Adenoviren (KLA, Adenovirus Reference Laboratory); Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany.
authors.forename: Albert
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Heim
mesh_terms: D000258:Adenovirus Infections, Human / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000821:virology*; D000260:Adenoviruses, Human / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics*; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D004279:DNA, Viral; D004196:Disease Outbreaks; D005260:Female; D016679:Genome, Viral; D005838:Genotype; D005843:Geography; D005858:Germany / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D007637:Keratoconjunctivitis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000821:virology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016017:Odds Ratio; D010802:Phylogeny; D011159:Population Surveillance; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D019562:Viral Load; D000073336:Whole Genome Sequencing; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D004279:DNA, Viral