Genotyping of Norovirus Strains Detected in Outbreaks between April 2002 and March 2003 in Osaka City, Japan

Abstract
Noroviruses (NVs) are the major cause of food‐ and waterborne nonbacterial gastroenteritis in Japan. Between April 2002 and March 2003, a total of 111 fecal specimens from 40 outbreaks of acute nonbacterial gastroenteritis in Osaka City, Japan were subject to NV detection. Seventy‐two samples (64.9%) from 31 outbreaks (77.5%) were NV positive by a real time reverse transcription (RT)‐PCR assay. To further determine the genotype of individual NV strains, we sequenced the capsid N‐terminal/shell (N/S) domain of some representative strains from each outbreak. The 51 NV strains detected in this study were segregated into 15 genotypes (6 in genogroup I and 9 in genogroup II), and GII/5 genotype NV was a dominant outbreak genotype.

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