Phylogenetic lineage of GII.17 norovirus identified among children in South-South, Nigeria

OBJECTIVES: Norovirus is a major cause of diarrhea among children worldwide. This present report highlight's the genetic homology patterns of GII.17 noroviruses detected among children under-5 years of age with diarrhea in the South-South, region of Nigeria. Stool specimens were collected from 300 children with diarrhea and analyzed for norovirus using conventional reverse transcriptase-Polymerase Chain Reaction. Sequencing of the capsid region was performed to genotype the strains RESULTS: 36/300 (12.0%) of patients were positive for norovirus by RT-PCR. 7/36 (19.4%) (5 GI.3 and 2 GI.5) were GI others where typed to be GII. All GII.17 norovirus identified in this study, 3/29 (10.3%) where typed to belong to the recently discovered GII.17 Kawasaki strain. This study report for the first time the detection of norovirus GII.17 Kawasaki strain in South-South, region of Nigeria.