Human Respiratory Coronaviruses Detected In Patients with InfluenzaLike Illness in Arkansas, USA

Journal Article · Mon Dec 01 00:00:00 EST 2014 · Virology & Mycology

DOI:https://doi.org/10.4172/2161-0517.s2-004· OSTI ID:1629933

Silva, Camila S. ^[1]; Mullis, Lisa B. ^[1]; Pereira Jr., Olavo ^[1]; Saif, Linda J. ^[2]; Vlasova, Anastasia ^[2]; Zhang, Xuming ^[3]; Owens, Randall J. ^[4]; Paulson, Dale ^[4]; Taylor, Deborah ^[5]; Haynes, Lia M. ^[6]; Azevedo, Marli P. ^[1]

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1. U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), College Park, MD (United States). National Center for Toxicological Research. Division of Microbiology
2. The Ohio State Univ., Columbus, OH (United States). Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center. Food Animal Health Research Program
3. Univ. of Arkansas, Little Rock, AR (United States). Medical Sciences. Dept. of Microbiology and Immunology
4. Arkansas Dept. of Health, Little Rock, AK (United States). Public Health Lab.
5. U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Rockville, MD (United States). Center for Biologics Evalution and Research
6. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Atlanta, GA (United States). Division of Viral Diseases, Gastroenteritis and Respiratory Viruses Lab. Branch. National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases

Acute respiratory viruses often result in significant morbidity and mortality. The potential impact of human respiratory coronavirus (CoV) infections was underestimated until the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS-CoV) outbreak in 2003, which showed that new, highly pathogenic coronaviruses could be introduced to humans, highlighting the importance of monitoring the circulating coronaviruses. The use of sensitive molecular methods has contributed to the differential diagnosis of viruses circulating in humans. Our study aim was to investigate the molecular epidemiology of human CoV strains circulating in Arkansas, their genetic variability and their association with reported influenza-like symptoms. We analyzed 200 nasal swab samples, collected by the Arkansas Department of Health in 2010, for influenza diagnosis. All samples were from patients showing acute respiratory symptoms while testing negative for influenza. Samples were pre-screened, using a quantitative reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) multiprobe for coronavirus, and subjected to confirmatory pancoronavirus and/or strain-specific reverse transcriptase (RT)-PCR followed by sequence analysis. Seventy-nine samples (39.5%) were positive by qRT-PCR and 35 samples (17.5%) were confirmed by conventional RT-PCR. Twenty-three of the confirmed samples (59%) were sequenced. The most frequent strain detected was HCoV-OC43-like followed by NL63-like; only one sample was positive for HCoV-229E and one for HCoV-HKU1. Feline-like CoV strains were detected in three samples, representing possible evidence of interspecies transmission or a new human strain. Seventeen percent of the coronavirus positive samples were also positive for other respiratory viruses, such as Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV), Parainfluenza 2 and 3, and Rhinovirus. Thus, HCoV-OC43, NL63, HKU1 and new feline-like strains were circulating in Arkansas in 2010. HCoV was the sole respiratory virus detected in 16% of the patients who showed acute respiratory symptoms with negative diagnoses for influenza virus.

• Research Organization: Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education (ORISE), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER)
• OSTI ID: 1629933
• Journal Information: Virology & Mycology, Vol. 01, Issue s2; ISSN 2161-0517
• Publisher: Longdom Publishing
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
Human respiratory coronaviruses
Molecular epidemiology
Influenza