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Isolation of Coronavirus NL63 from Blood from Children in Rural Haiti: Phylogenetic Similarities with Recent Isolates from Malaysia

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2017

DOI

https://doi.org/10.4269/ajtmh.16-0585

Abstract

Human coronavirus (HCoV) NL63 is recognized as a common cause of upper respiratory infections and influenza-like illness. In screening children with acute undifferentiated febrile illness in a school cohort in rural Haiti, we identified HCoV-NL63 in blood samples from four children. Cases clustered over an 11-day period; children did not have respiratory symptoms, but two had gastrointestinal complaints. On phylogenetic analysis, the Haitian HCoV-NL63 strains cluster together in a highly supported monophyletic clade linked most closely with recently reported strains from Malaysia; two respiratory HCoV-NL63 strains identified in north Florida in the same general period form a separate clade, albeit again with close linkages with the Malaysian strains. Our data highlight the variety of presentations that may be seen with HCoV-NL63, and underscore the apparent ease with which CoV strains move among countries, with our data consistent with recurrent introduction of strains into the Caribbean (Haiti and Florida) from Asia.

Citation / Publisher Attribution

The American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, v. 96, issue 1, p. 144-147

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