Molecular and serological characterization of adenovirus genome type 7h isolated in Japan

Abstract

In 1996, three adenovirus type 7 (Ad7) strains were isolated from children with fever and upper respiratory diseases in Japan. Restriction endonucleases (REs) analysis and PCR amplification of the E3 7.7 kDa ORF revealed that these strains were genotype Ad7h and closely related to an Argentine Ad7h strain, which has been reported to be highly virulent and so far predominant only in South America. These strains showed weak cross-neutralizing activity and specific haemagglutination-inhibition activity to Ad3 antiserum. The present findings suggest that Ad7h in South America has spread to other parts of the world. Since the seroprevalence to Ad7 in the current Japanese population is very low due to the absence of Ad7 circulation in Japan for decades, Ad7 outbreak as a typical case of re-emerging infectious diseases is a cause for serious concern.

Genome Type Analysis of Adenovirus Types 3 and 7 Isolated during Successive Outbreaks of Lower Respiratory Tract Infections in Children

“…Twenty-two Ad7 strains isolated from 1987 to 1992 in Japan were Ad7d (22), and a recent countrywide epidemic of Ad7 in Japan during the period from 1995 to 1998 was attributed to Ad7d2 (23,35). Ad7h also has been recognized in Japan (9).…”

“…strains obtained from the American Type Culture Collection (Manassas, Va.) and Ad3a, Ad7d (383), and Ad7d2 (Bal) reference strains obtained from the National Institute of Infectious Diseases, Tokyo, Japan, were also included. Japanese Ad7 strains 383 (Ad7d) and Bal (Ad7d2) have different BstEII restriction patterns (9,23).…”

Antigenic and genomic characterization of adenovirus associated to respiratory infections in children living in Northeast Brazil

“…The occurrence of this genome type remained restricted in countries of South Cone of South America (Argentina, Chile and Uruguay) until 1994, when it was identified in Southeast Brazil associated to a case of follicular conjunctivitis (Tanaka et al 2000). The circulation of this genome type outside of South America occurred in 1996 in Japan and in 1998 in Southeast of United States (Hashido et al 1999, Erdman et al 2000. The first identification of Ad7h in case of ARI in Brazil occurred in 1995 (Moura et al 2007).…”

Impact of Human Adenovirus Serotype 7 in Hospitalized Children with Severe Fatal Pneumonia in the Philippines

“…Furthermore, a variety of genome types can be identified by the restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) technique (6). Temporal and geographical distributions of serotypes and genome types have been reported (2,5,(7)(8)(9)(10)(11)(12). It has also been indicated that the emergence or switching of serotypes and genome types can cause HAdV outbreaks (8).…”

“…Although a higher virulence of HAdV7h was indicated during these outbreaks, there is no virological evidence to indicate increased virulence of HAdV7h. Outside of South America, HAdV7h was first identified in Japan in 1996 and then in the US in 1998 (5,9,23).…”