Novel Orthobunyavirus Identified in the Cerebrospinal Fluid of a Ugandan Child With Severe Encephalopathy

Arthur W D Edridge; Martin Deijs; Ruth Namazzi; Cosimo Cristella; Maarten F Jebbink; Irma Maurer; Neeltje A Kootstra; Linda R Buluma; Job B M van Woensel; Menno D de Jong; Richard Idro; Michael Boele van Hensbroek; Lia van der Hoek

doi:10.1093/cid/ciy486

Novel Orthobunyavirus Identified in the Cerebrospinal Fluid of a Ugandan Child With Severe Encephalopathy

Clin Infect Dis. 2019 Jan 1;68(1):139-142. doi: 10.1093/cid/ciy486.

Affiliations

¹ Laboratory of Experimental Virology, Department of Medical Microbiology, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
² Global Child Health Group, Emma Children's Hospital, Academic Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
³ Department of Paediatrics and Child Health, Mulago Hospital, Makerere University College of Health Sciences, Kampala, Uganda.
⁴ Laboratory of Viral Immune Pathogenesis, Department of Experimental Immunology, Academic Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

Abstract

A Ugandan child with an unexplained encephalitis was investigated using viral metagenomics. Several sequences from all segments of a novel orthobunyavirus were found. The S-segment, used for typing, showed 41% amino acid diversity to its closest relative. The virus was named Ntwetwe virus, after the hometown of the patient.

Publication types

Case Reports
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Bunyaviridae Infections / diagnosis*
Bunyaviridae Infections / virology*
Cerebrospinal Fluid / virology*
Child, Preschool
Encephalitis, Viral / diagnosis*
Encephalitis, Viral / virology*
Female
Genotype
Humans
Metagenomics
Orthobunyavirus / classification*
Orthobunyavirus / genetics
Orthobunyavirus / isolation & purification*
Uganda