Objective: To identify the molecular biological characteristics of human caliciviruses (HuCVs) and new strains of norovirus (NV) detected in Guangdong Province.
Methods: HuCVs were detected from the stool specimens by reverse transcription-PCR (RT-PCR), and the PCR products were cloned, transformed, and blasted with Genbank. The nucleotide sequence homology was also evaluated with PHYLIP package, and the phylogenetic tree was generated by Treeview.
Results: HuCVs were detected from 18 out of 206 stool specimens from children with viral diarrhea (8.74%), which were all confirmed subsequently as NVs. Two strains HuCV/NVGII 003/2003/CHN(32282) and HuCV/NVGII 004/2003/CHN(32283) from the selected 6 NVs strain were identified as new NV strains.
Conclusion: New NV strains in consistency with the blood-type distribution of Chinese are present in Guangzhou, which have not been reported in other countries.