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Journal of Clinical Microbiology, March 2006, p. 790-797, Vol. 44, No. 3
0095-1137/06/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JCM.44.3.790-797.2006
Copyright © 2006, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Multiple Viral Infections and Genomic Divergence among Noroviruses during an Outbreak of Acute Gastroenteritis

Division of Virology, Department of Microbiology, Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Public Health, Hyakunin-cho 3-24-1, Shinjyuku-ku, Tokyo 169-0073,¹ Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Chiba University, Yayoi-cho 1-33, Inageku, Chiba 263-8522, Japan²

Received 10 June 2005/ Returned for modification 29 July 2005/ Accepted 8 December 2005

An epidemic outbreak of both norovirus (NV) and astrovirus (ASV) occurred on a research ship surveying Tokyo Bay, causing acute gastroenteritis in 26 of its 37 crew members. The presence of viral pathogens in fecal specimens was analyzed, and noroviruses were identified by reverse transcription-PCR in 18 (48.6%) of these specimens. In addition, astroviruses were identified in 14 (37.8%) of the fecal samples from the affected crew members, and multiple viral infections of both NV and ASV were observed in 6 cases. The genogrouping of the NV-positive samples was then examined by dot blot hybridization, and it was determined that all of the isolates were from genogroup II (GII). No bacterial pathogens were subsequently isolated from fecal specimens. Furthermore, a variety of NV strains were identified by sequencing and single-stranded conformational polymorphism (SSCP) analyses of PCR products from the fecal samples. One recombinant NV isolate, Minato/14, was identified as a recombinant NV strain of GII/6 and GII/1. The other NV isolates from this outbreak were classified into three NV genotypes (GII/1 [Minato/10], GII/4 [Minato/33], and GII/5 [Minato/6]). Furthermore, ASVs in positive samples were determined to belong to serotypes 1 and 2 by sequencing analysis. Our findings thus indicate that coinfections with NV and ASV, including a number of NV genotypes, persisted during an outbreak of gastroenteritis in a closed environment.

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