Background. Human Bocavirus (HBoV), which is an ssDNA virus of the family Parvoviridae, is responsible for 21.5 % of childhood respiratory tract infections (RTIs) annually. Among the four genotypes currently known, HBoV-1 has been associated with acute RTI. Although there have been studies on HBoV in some countries, there is limited information on this virus in sub-Saharan Africa where there is the highest burden of RTI. This study aimed to characterize the circulating strains of HBoV in Ibadan, Nigeria. Methods. Nasopharyngeal and oropharyngeal swab samples were collected from 333 children ≤5 years old presenting with RTI attending hospitals in Ibadan, whose parents assented, from 2014 to 2015. Twenty-three HBoV isolates were sequenced after a nested PCR and phylogenetic analysis was carried out using mega 6 software. Results. A total of 27 children tested positive for the HBoV-1 genotype by PCR and 23 of the 27 isolates were successfully sequenced. The 23 HBoV-1 isolates from this study have been assigned GenBank accession numbers KY701984–KY702006. Phylogram analysis indicated that the isolates belong to the same clades. Six isolates aligned closely to the reference strains ST1 and ST2, while 17 isolates showed a high level of divergence to the reference isolates. Conclusion. This study highlights the contribution of HBoV to RTIs in Nigeria and that HBoV-1 strains are associated with the infection.

Background: Human Bocavirus (HBoV) which is a single stranded DNA virus of the family Parvoviridae, is responsible for 21.5% of childhood respiratory tract infections (RTI) annually. Among the four genotypes currently known, HBoV1 has been associated with acute respiratory tract infection. Although, there have been studies on HBoV in some countries, there is limited information on this virus in sub-Saharan Africa where there is the highest burden of RTI. This study aimed to characterize the circulating strains of HBoV in Ibadan, Nigeria. Methods: Nasopharyngeal and oropharyngeal swab samples were collected from 333 children ≤5 years old presenting with RTI attending hospitals in Ibadan, whose parents assented from 2014 – 2015. HBoV isolates were sequenced after a nested PCR and phylogenetic analysis was carried out using Mega 6 software. The HBoV isolates of this study has been assigned the Genbank accession numbers KY701984 – KY702006. Results: A total of 27 children tested positive for HBoV by PCR and 23 of the 27 isolates were successfully sequenced. The 23 HBoV isolates from this study were type as HBoV-1 genotype by phylogenetic analysis. Phylogram analysis indicated that the isolates belong to the same clades. Six Isolates aligned closely to the reference strains ST1 and ST2, while 17 isolates showed a high divergence to the reference isolates. Conclusion: This study shows the contribution on HBoV in respiratory tract infections in Nigeria and that HBoV1 strain is the strain associated with the infection.