Novel Astroviruses in Children, Egypt

Salwa F Ahmed,Guillermo Pimentel,David Wang,Adel Mansour,Amel M Naguib,Sylvia Y.N Young,John D Klena,Peter J Sebeny,Jody Bruton,Lori R Holtz

doi:10.3201/eid1712.110909

Abstract

To the Editor: Human astroviruses (HAstVs) are a common cause of gastroenteritis in children, the elderly, and immunocompromised persons (1). Up to 10% of acute viral gastroenteritis in children and 0.5%–15% of diarrheal outbreaks are attributed to astroviruses (2). Until 2008, eight classical astrovirus serotypes were known to cause human disease; in Egypt, HAstV-1 is the most frequent astrovirus serotype detected (3). Recently, 5 novel astroviruses have been discovered in human fecal samples from patients with diarrhea or acute flaccid paralysis (4–7). Because the prevalence of these virsues in the Middle East is unknown, we screened fecal samples from children with diarrhea residing in Egypt to ascertain the prevalence and diversity of these novel astroviruses.

Highlights

Raghav R, Taylor M, DeLay J, Ojkic D, Pearl DL, Kistler AL, et al Avian bornavirus is present in many tissues of psittacine birds with histopathologic evidence of proventricular dilatation disease
Herzog S, Enderlein D, Heffels-Redmann U, Piepenbring A, Neumann D, Kaleta EF, et al Indirect immunofluorescence assay for intra vitam diagnosis of avian bornavirus infection in psittacine birds
Alignment of the partial amino acid sequences of the ORF2 capsid region indicates that Egyptian Human astroviruses (HAstVs) type I strains share 99%–100% identity (Figure, panel A)

Summary

Introduction

Proventricular dilatation disease and avian bornavirus as a possible cause. 5. Heffels-Redmann U, Enderlein D, Herzog S, Herden C, Piepenbring A, Neumann D, et al Occurrence of avian bornavirus infection in captive psittacines in various European countries and its association to proventricular dilation disease. 9. Raghav R, Taylor M, DeLay J, Ojkic D, Pearl DL, Kistler AL, et al Avian bornavirus is present in many tissues of psittacine birds with histopathologic evidence of proventricular dilatation disease.

Results

Conclusion