Ernest Wandera, Kenya Medical Research Institute

Authors Ernest Apondi Wandera1,2,3, Yuki Akari3, Carlene Sang1, Pamela Njugu1, Samoel Ashimosi Khamadi1, Saori Fukuda5, Takayuki Murata5,4, Sebastian Musundi7, Shingo Inoue2, Satoshi Kaneko2, James Nyangao1, and Satoshi Komoto4,5,6 Affiliations 1Centre for Virus Research, Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI), P.O. Box 54840-00200, Nairobi, Kenya 2Kenya Research Station, Nagasaki University Institute of Tropical Medicine (NUITM)- KEMRI, P.O. Box 19993-00202, Nairobi, Kenya 3Innovation and Technology Transfer Division, KEMRI, P.O. Box 54840-00200, Nairobi, Kenya 4Division of One Health, Research Center for GLOBAL and LOCAL Infectious Diseases (RCGLID), Oita University, Yufu, Oita 879-5593, Japan 5Department of Virology, Fujita Health University School of Medicine, Toyoake, Aichi 470-1192, Japan 6Center for Infectious Disease Research, Research Promotion Headquarters, Fujita Health University, Toyoake, Aichi 470-1192, Japan 7KEMRI Wellcome Trust Research Programme, KEMRI, P.O. Box 230, Kilifi, Kenya.

Epidemiology, Evolution, and Diversity

Background: Rotavirus infections are a major cause of severe gastroenteritis in young humans and animals globally. Human rotavirus strains with the unconventional G8P[14] genotype have sporadically been detected in diarrheic patients in different parts of the world. However, full genomes of only two human G8P[14] strains from Africa (North Africa) have been sequenced, and the origin and evolutionary patterns of African G8P[14] strains remain to be elucidated.
Methods: In this study, we sequenced the full genome of an African G8P[14] strain (RVA/Human-wt/KEN/A75/2000/G8P[14]) identified in archival stool samples from a diarrheic child in Kenya.
Results: Full genome-based analysis of strain A75 revealed a bovine DS-1-like genogroup constellation, G8-P[14]-I2-R2-C2-M2-A11-N2-T6-E2-H3, with the I2-R2-C2-M2-A11-N2-T6-E2-H3 part being common among rotavirus strains from artiodactyls such as cattle. Phylogenetic analysis showed that all the 11 genomic segments of strain A75 are closely related to segments found in artiodactyl rotavirus strains, and likely strain A75 derived from spillover transmission of an artiodactyl rotavirus strain to humans.
Conclusion: Our findings suggest that the Kenyan rotavirus G8P[14] strain might have been directly transmitted from artiodactyls to humans. Due to the close proximity between humans and animals in Kenya, it is essential to continue monitoring the spread of zoonotic rotavirus strains in the human population to guide one health-driven public health interventions to prevent rotavirus disease.