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. 2016:2016:1280247.
doi: 10.1155/2016/1280247. Epub 2016 May 8.

Outbreak of Norovirus GII.P17-GII.17 in the Canadian Province of Nova Scotia

Jason J LeBlanc  1 , Janice Pettipas  2 , Daniel Gaston  1 , Robin Taylor  1 , Todd F Hatchette  1 , Tim F Booth  3 , Russell Mandes  4 , Andrew McDermid  5 , Elsie Grudeski  4
Affiliations

Outbreak of Norovirus GII.P17-GII.17 in the Canadian Province of Nova Scotia

Jason J LeBlanc et al. Can J Infect Dis Med Microbiol. 2016.

Abstract

Background. Norovirus is the leading cause of viral gastroenteritis, with GII.4 being the most common circulating genotype. Recently, outbreaks in China revealed that norovirus GII.17 GII.P17 had become predominant. Objective. This study aimed to characterize the distribution of norovirus genotypes circulating in Nova Scotia. Methods. Stool specimens were collected from gastrointestinal outbreaks in Nova Scotia between Jan 2014 and June 2015 and subjected to real-time RT-PCR. Norovirus-positive specimens were referred to the National Microbiology Laboratory for sequence-based genotyping. Results. The first norovirus GII.P17-GII.17 outbreak in Canada was identified, but no widespread activity was observed in Nova Scotia. Discussion. It is unknown whether GII.P17-GII.17 is more widespread in Canada since contributions to Canadian surveillance are too sparse to effectively monitor the epidemiology of emerging norovirus genotypes. Conclusions. Presence of norovirus GII.17:P17 in Canada highlights the need for more systematic surveillance to ensure that molecular targets used for laboratory detection are effective and help understand norovirus evolution, epidemiology, and pathogenesis.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Distribution of norovirus genotype in Nova Scotia from January 2014 to June 2015. The total number of viral enteric outbreaks is indicated by a dashed line. The arrow represents the appearance of norovirus genotype GII.P17-GII.17.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Phylogenetic analysis of the full length VP1 nucleotide sequences of various noroviruses. Presented is a cladogram with supporting bootstrap values. Arrows indicating the location of the Nova Scotia sequences.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Multiple sequence alignment comparing the full length VP1 sequences of GII.P17-GII.17 noroviruses. Alignments were generated with BioEdit version 7.2.5. Genbank accession numbers, strain nomenclature, and abbreviations used in the figure are as follows: GII/Hu/CA/2014/GII.P17 GII.17/NS_065 (CA 2014); KJ156329, GII/Hu/TW/2013/GII.17/13BH1 (TW 2013); LC043168, GII/Hu/JP/2013/GII.17 GII.P17/Saitama5309 (JP 2013); AB983218, GII/Hu/JP/2014/GII.17 GII.P17/Kawasaki323 (JP 2014); KR083017, GII/Hu/US/2014/GII.17/Gaithersburg (US 2014); KR020503, GII/Hu/CHN/2014/GII.17/41621/Guangzhou (CHN 2014); KP998539, GII/Hu/HKG/2014/GII.17/CUHK-NS-463 (HKG 2014); KP698931, GII/Hu/HKG/2015/GII.17/CUHK-NS-513 (HKG 2015); LC037415, GII/Hu/JP/2015/GII.P17 GII.17/Kawasaki308 (JP 2015); DQ438972, GII/Hu/US/2005/NoV/Katrina-17 (US 2005); JN699043, GII/Hu/GF/1978/GII.17/C142 (GF 1978).
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