Full genomic analysis of a G8P[1] rotavirus strain isolated from an asymptomatic infant in Kenya provides evidence for an artiodactyl‐to‐human interspecies transmission event

Abstract

Group A rotavirus (GAR) G8P[1] strains, found sometimes in cattle, have been reported rarely from humans. Therefore, analysis of the full genomes of human G8P[1] strains are of significance in the context of studies on interspecies transmission of rotaviruses. However, to date, only partial-length nucleotide sequences are available for the 11 genes of a single human G8P[1] strain, while the partial sequences of two other strains have been reported. The present study reports the first complete genome sequence of a human G8P[1] strain, B12, detected from an asymptomatic infant in Kenya in 1987. By nucleotide sequence identities and phylogenetic analyses, the full-length nucleotide sequences of VP7-VP4-VP6-VP1-VP2-VP3-NSP1-NSP2-NSP3-NSP4-NSP5 genes of strain B12 were assigned to G8-P[1]-I2-R2-C2-M2-A3-N2-T6-E2-H3 genotypes, respectively. Each of the 11 genes of strain B12 appeared to be more related to cognate genes of artiodactyl (ruminant and/or camelid) and/or artiodactyl-derived human GAR strains than those of most other rotaviruses. Strain B12 exhibited low levels of genetic relatedness to canonical human GAR strains, such as Wa and DS-1, ruling out the possibility of its origin from reassortment events between artiodactyl-like human and true human strains. These observations suggest that strain B12 might have been directly transmitted from artiodactyls to humans. Unhygienic conditions and close proximity of humans to livestock at the sampling site might have facilitated this rare event. This is the first report on a full genomic analysis of a rotavirus strain from Kenya. To our knowledge, strain B12 might be the oldest G8 strain characterized molecularly from the Africa continent.

A large outbreak of enteritis in goat flocks in Marmara, Turkey, by G8P[1] group A rotaviruses

“…In this study, a large outbreak of enteric disease with high morbidity and mortality rates in young kids was associated with GAR infection. These findings are in accordance with previous reports on GAR infection in goats and sheep herds in other countries [7,10,18,19,28,29,31,39] and underscore the relevance of GARs for the livestock industry, chiefly in rural areas. The GAR outbreak occurred in two goat flocks in Kırklareli city, in the Marmara region.…”

Genomic characterization of a rotavirus G8P[1] detected in a child with diarrhea reveal direct animal-to-human transmission

“…G8P [1] rotaviruses were mainly found in cattle (Ciarlet et al, 1997;Fukai et al, 1999;Okada and Matsumoto, 2002), and rarely reported in other species (Ghosh et al, 2010;Louge Uriarte et al, 2014). Only five cases of G8P [1] strains, all with constellation of genes more similar to animals, were reported in humans, being only three of them detected in children with diarrhea (Banyai et al, 2009a;Ghosh et al, 2011). The sequence and phylogenetic analyzes of the genes analyzed from the 492SR rotavirus-positive sample provides evidence for a direct interspecies transmission animal-to-human, with a potential reassortment with human strains as evidenced by the human-like VP3.…”

Symptomatic and asymptomatic infections of rotavirus, norovirus, and adenovirus among hospitalized children in Xi'an, China

“…The outer-layer protein is composed of two independent neutralization antigens VP4 and VP7, in which VP4 determines P serotypes and VP7 defines G serotypes. At least 15 G genotypes and 26 P genotypes have been reported [Rao et al, 2000;Ghosh et al, 2011], but G1-G4, G9, P[4], and P[8] are the most prevalent genotypes responsible for RV infections worldwide [Chen et al, 2005;Nguyen et al, 2007;Jin et al, 2009]. In 2006 and 2008, two RV vaccines have been recommended for routine immunization programs of infants in the US.…”