Discovery and Genomic Characterization of Noroviruses from a Gastroenteritis Outbreak in Domestic Cats in the US

Abstract

Norovirus (NoV) RNA was detected in the stools of 6 out 14 (42.8%) 8–12-week-old cats with enteritis from a feline shelter, in New York State. Upon sequence analysis of the complete capsid, the six NoVs were found to be identical, suggesting the spread of a unique NoV strain in the shelter. The full-length genomic sequence (7839 nt) of one feline NoV, CU081210E/2010/US, was determined. In the capsid protein VP1 region, the virus displayed the highest amino acid identity to animal genogroup IV genotype 2 (GIV.2) NoVs: lion/Pistoia-387/06/IT (97.9%) and dog/Bari-170/07/IT (90.4%). These findings document the discovery of a novel feline calicivirus, different from vesiviruses, and extend the spectrum of NoV host range. Epidemiological studies using feline NoV-specific diagnostic tools and experimental infection of cats are required to understand whether NoVs have a pathogenic role in this species.

Recombination within the Pandemic Norovirus GII.4 Lineage

“…Human NoVs include viruses from GI, GII, and GIV, with the GII.4 viruses being most commonly identified in both outbreak and sporadic settings (8). NoVs are also known to infect a wide range of mammals (18)(19)(20)(21)(22)(23).…”

Detection of human norovirus GIV.1 in China: A case report

“…From then on, they were occasionally detected in NoVs routine screenings of clinical and environmental samples [4][5][6][7]22]. Interestingly, in animals, GIV.2 NoVs were also detected [9,23,24]. Data on the clinical role of GIV NoVs are also limited.…”

“…Sequence analysis of CHNNGIV2011 showed the highest sequence identity with the complete genome of GIV.1 Lake Macquarie virus [7] (99.0%) and GIV.2 feline NoV [9] (64.0%). The VP1 region of CHNNGIV2011 was 91.6-98.2% identical in nt to that http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jcv.2014.08.002 1386-6532/© 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.…”

High frequency of porcine norovirus infection in finisher units of Brazilian pig-production systems

“…NoVs have been detected in human and in different animal species, such as bovine, swine, ovine, canine and feline (Martella et al 2007(Martella et al , 2008Patel et al 2009;Wolf et al 2009;Mijovski et al 2010;Pinto et al 2012). Human and animal NoVs are non-enveloped and have a positive-sense, single-stranded RNA genome of approximately 7.5 kb (Green 2007).…”

“…Human NoV strains are organized into GI, GII and GIV; the bovine and sheep isolates are in GIII; the canine and feline NoVs are classified as GIV, and the murine NoV is in the GV (Zheng et al 2006;Pinto et al 2012). Porcine NoV (PoNoV) strains are classified into GII and are closest to the most prevalent human NoV isolates.…”