An early increase in outbreaks of norovirus gastroenteritis characterised at the French National Reference Centre occurred this winter season. They were concurrent with an unusual pattern of circulating strains, with three predominant genotypes: the re-emergent variant GII.P4 2009-GII.4 2012 found in 28% of norovirus outbreaks and two new emergent recombinant strains GII.P16-GII.4 2012 and GII.P16-GII.2 never before observed in France, found in 24% and 14% of norovirus outbreaks, respectively.

<i>Aichi virus 1</i> (AiV-1) has been proposed as a causative agent of human gastroenteritis. In this study, raw, decanted, and treated wastewater samples from a wastewater treatment plant in an urban area of Dakar, Senegal, were collected. AiV-1 was detected in raw (70%, 14/20), decanted (68.4%, 13/19), and treated (59.3%, 16/27) samples, revealing a noticeable resistance of AiV-1 to chlorine-based treatment. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that all sequences clustered within genotype B. Our study presents the first report on the detection of AiV-1 in the environment of Dakar and constitutes indirect evidence of virus circulation in the population.

A novel GII.17 norovirus emerged in Asia in the winter of 2014/15. A worldwide spread is conceivable and norovirus diagnostic assays need to be evaluated to investigate if they adequately detect this emerging genotype. Seven immunochromatographic kits commercially available in Europe were evaluated on ten stool samples where GII.17 virus had been quantified by real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction. All the kits detected GII.17 with various sensitivities, partly depending on the virus titre.

Introduction: Noroviruses (NoV), rotaviruses (RVA), and adenoviruses (AdV) are the main viral agents responsible for acute gastroenteritis (AGE) in humans. We aimed to determine the diagnostic accuracy of four commercial immunochromatographic tests (ICTs) intended for the rapid and simultaneous detection of these three pathogens. Methods: Diagnostic accuracy of bioNexia® Noro/Rota-Adeno (bioMérieux), IMMUNOQUICK® NoRotAdeno (Biosynex), ROTA+ADENO+NORO Combo Card (CerTest Biotec), and RIDA®QUICK Rota/Adeno/Noro Combi (R-Biopharm) ICTs was assessed retrospectively using a collection of 160 stool specimens (including 43 RVA-, 47 AdV- and 42 NoV-positive samples) from French patients with AGE and using molecular methods as the reference standard. Results: For RVA, the four ICTs demonstrated similar high sensitivity (93%) and excellent specificity (97.4-100%). For AdV, the four ICTs demonstrated similar poor sensitivity (54.3-58.7%) but excellent specificity (95.5-100%). They performed the best in AdV-F species (sensitivity: 80.8-84.6%) and worst in AdV non-F species (sensitivity: 22.2-27.8%). For NoV, the RIDA®QUICK Rota/Adeno/Noro Combi ICT exhibited high sensitivity (87.5%), but the sensitivity of the three others was poor (42.5-47.5%). The four ICTs exhibited high specificity (96.6-99.1%). Diagnostic accuracy was genogroup-dependent: when we tested genogroup I NoV, the RIDA®QUICK Rota/Adeno/Noro Combi ICT presented high sensitivity (90%) while the three other ICTs presented poor sensitivity (10-30%); when we tested genogroup II NoV, sensitivity was similar for the four ICTs (65-85%). Conclusion: The four ICTs are suitable first-line tests for the rapid diagnosis of RVA infections. The four ICTs are not suitable for the routine diagnosis of AdV infections but could provide a rapid response in case of positivity, notably in a context of AGE. Only the RIDA®QUICK Rota/Adeno/Noro Combi ICT is suitable for the rapid detection of NoV, while the sensitivity for the detection of genogroup I NoV needs to be improved for the 3 other ICTs before being implemented in the routine diagnosis of NoV.