Molecular epidemiology of rotavirus and norovirus in Ile‐Ife, Nigeria: High prevalence of G12P[8] rotavirus strains and detection of a rare norovirus genotype

Rotavirus (RV) and norovirus (NoV) are considered the most common causes of viral gastroenteritis in children. In this study, the prevalence of RV and NoV infection in 55 children with diarrhea from the rural community Akinlalu in Southwestern Nigeria was investigated using real-time PCR assays. The RV and NoV strains were genotyped by PCR and/or sequencing. RV and NoV infections occurred with a prevalence of 34.5% and 25.5% respectively, with predominance in children <1 year. Most infections occurred during the dry season with increasing prevalence of RV as the dry season progressed (October-January). Infections with RV VP6 subgroup (SG) II were more prevalent (27.3%) than SGI (7.3%). Similarly, NoV genogroup II infections were more common (23.6%) than genogroup I (1.8%). Five children out of 55 (9.1%) were co-infected with both RV and NoV. Notably, G12P[8] was the predominant RV strain (36.8%, n = 7), observed for the first time in Nigeria. The VP7 gene of the G12 strains clustered within lineage III, sharing high nucleotide identity with each other (>99%) indicating introduction in Nigeria from a single donor. Furthermore, a putative novel genotype within genogroup I NoV was detected, which till date has only been reported once in humans. To conclude, a high prevalence of the emerging G12P[8] RV strain was observed for the first time in Nigeria, as well as a putative novel NoV genotype in humans. These results provide new information which can be important for future vaccine evaluations and possible introduction in Nigeria.