Seroprevalence of severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome (SFTS) virus antibodies in humans and animals in Ehime prefecture, Japan, an endemic region of SFTS.

Severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome (SFTS) was first identified as an emerging tick-borne infectious disease caused by the SFTS virus (SFTSV) in China and has also been found to be endemic to Japan and South Korea, indicating that SFTS is of great concern in East Asia. The aim of the present study was to determine the seroprevalence of SFTSV antibodies in humans and animals in SFTS-endemic regions of Japan. One of 694 (0.14%) healthy persons over 50 years of age and 20 of 107 (18.7%) wild and domestic animals in Ehime prefecture of western Japan were determined to be seropositive for SFTSV antibodies by virus neutralization test and ELISA, respectively. The seropositive person, a healthy 74-year-old woman, was a resident of the southwest part of Ehime prefecture engaged in citriculture and field work. This woman's sample exhibited neutralizing activity against SFTSV although she had neither a clear experience with tick bites nor SFTS-like clinical illness. These findings indicate that most people living in the endemic regions are not infected with SFTSV and suggest that most of the SFTS patients reported so far do not reflect the tip of an iceberg of people infected with SFTSV, but at the same time, that SFTSV infection does not always induce severe SFTS-associated symptoms. These findings also suggested that SFTSV has been maintained in nature within animal species and ticks.

Antigenic variation of H1N1, H1N2 and H3N2 swine influenza viruses in Japan and Vietnam.

The antigenicity of the influenza A virus hemagglutinin is responsible for vaccine efficacy in protecting pigs against swine influenza virus (SIV) infection. However, the antigenicity of SIV strains currently circulating in Japan and Vietnam has not been well characterized. We examined the antigenicity of classical H1 SIVs, pandemic A(H1N1)2009 (A(H1N1)pdm09) viruses, and seasonal human-lineage SIVs isolated in Japan and Vietnam. A hemagglutination inhibition (HI) assay was used to determine antigenic differences that differentiate the recent Japanese H1N2 and H3N2 SIVs from the H1N1 and H3N2 domestic vaccine strains. Minor antigenic variation between pig A(H1N1)pdm09 viruses was evident by HI assay using 13 mAbs raised against homologous virus. A Vietnamese H1N2 SIV, whose H1 gene originated from a human strain in the mid-2000s, reacted poorly with post-infection ferret serum against human vaccine strains from 2000-2010. These results provide useful information for selection of optimal strains for SIV vaccine production.

Distribution of Human Sapovirus Strain Genotypes over the Last Four Decades in Japan: a Global Perspective.

Sapovirus (SaV) infections are a public health problem because they cause acute gastroenteritis in humans of all ages, both sporadically and as outbreaks. However, only a limited amount of SaV sequence information, especially whole-genome sequences for all the SaV genotypes, is publicly available. Therefore, in this study, we determined the full/near-full-length genomic sequences of 138 SaVs from the 2001 to 2015 seasons in 13 prefectures across Japan. The genogroup GI was predominant (67%, n = 92), followed by genogroups GII (18%, n = 25), GIV (9%, n = 12), and GV (6%, n = 9). Within the GI genogroup, four different genotypes were identified: GI.1 (n = 44), GI.2 (n = 40), GI.3 (n = 7), and GI.5 (n = 1). We then compared these Japanese SaV sequences with 3,119 publicly available human SaV sequences collected from 49 countries over the last 46 years. The results indicated that GI.1, and GI.2 have been the predominant genotypes in Japan, as well as in other countries, over at least four decades. The 138 newly determined Japanese SaV sequences together with the currently available SaV sequences, could facilitate a better understanding of the evolutionary patterns of SaV genotypes.

Expression of salinarum halorhodopsin in Escherichia coli cells: solubilization in the presence of retinal yields the natural state.

Salinarum halorhodopsin (HsHR), a light-driven chloride ion pump of haloarchaeon Halobacterium salinarum, was heterologously expressed in Escherichia coli. The expressed HsHR had no color in the E. coli membrane, but turned purple after solubilization in the presence of all-trans retinal. This colored HsHR was purified by Ni-chelate chromatography in a yield of 3-4 mg per liter culture. The purified HsHR showed a distinct chloride pumping activity by incorporation into the liposomes, and showed even in the detergent-solubilized state, its typical behaviors in both the unphotolyzed and photolyzed states. Upon solubilization, HsHR expressed in the E. coli membrane attains the proper folding and a trimeric assembly comparable to those in the native membranes.

Molecular characterization of Sapovirus detected in a gastroenteritis outbreak at a wedding hall.

Sapovirus (SaV) is an important pathogen of human acute gastroenteritis. A gastroenteritis outbreak occurred at a wedding hall in October 2007 in Ehime Prefecture, Japan. One hundred nine people who had either attended wedding parties or had eaten a box lunch at a conference held at the same hall complained of gastroenteritis symptoms. Among these 109 people, stool specimens from 56 patients were available for pathogen screening, and 20 (35.7%) of these specimens were positive for SaV, of whom 18 showed symptoms. The numbers of cDNA copies of the specimens ranged from 2.36 x 10(6) to 3.03 x 10(10) for symptomatic patients, and 2.19 x 10(6) and 1.18 x 10(9) per gram of stool for two asymptomatic food handlers. The incubation periods of the 18 symptomatic patients ranged from 14.5 to 99.5 hr. Identical nucleotide sequence types of SaV; that is, a single synonymous nucleotide difference (transition) or microheterogeneity, was detected in stool specimens from the symptomatic patients and the asymptomatic food handlers, with the direct nucleotide sequence of approximately 2.3 kb 3' end of the genome. Based on the phylogenetic analysis with the complete capsid nucleotide sequence, these strains were clustered into genogroup IV. This outbreak was thought to be caused by a single source, and underscores the importance of proper hygiene in the environment and/or in food-handling practices to control SaV outbreaks.

Polio vaccination coverage and seroprevalence of poliovirus antibodies after the introduction of inactivated poliovirus vaccines for routine immunization in Japan.

In Japan, the oral poliovirus vaccine (OPV) was changed to 2 types of inactivated poliovirus vaccine (IPV), the standalone conventional IPV (cIPV) and the Sabin-derived IPV combined with diphtheria-tetanus-acellular pertussis vaccine (DTaP-sIPV), for routine immunization in 2012. We evaluated polio vaccination coverage and the seroprevalence of poliovirus antibodies using data from the National Epidemiological Surveillance of Vaccine-Preventable Diseases (NESVPD) from 2011 to 2015. Several years before the introduction of IPV in 2012, OPV administration for children was refused by some parents because of concerns about the risk of vaccine-associated paralytic poliomyelitis. Consequently, in children aged <1 years who were surveyed in 2011-2012, polio vaccination coverage (45.0-48.8%) and seropositivity rates for poliovirus (type 1: 51.7-65.9%, type 2: 48.3-53.7%, and type 3: 15.0-29.3%) were decreased compared to those surveyed in 2009. However, after IPV introduction, the vaccination coverage (95.5-100%) and seropositivity rates (type 1: 93.2-96.6%, type 2: 93.1-100%, and type 3: 88.6-93.9%) increased among children aged <1 years in 2013-2015. In particular, seropositivity rates and geometric mean titers (GMTs) for poliovirus type 3 in <5-year-old children who received 4 doses of IPV (98.5% and 247.4, respectively) were significantly higher than in those who received 2 doses of OPV (72.5% and 22.9, respectively). Furthermore, in <5-year-old children who received 4 doses of either DTaP-sIPV or cIPV, the seropositivity rates and the GMTs for all 3 types of poliovirus were similarly high (96.5-100% and 170.3-368.8, respectively). Our findings from the NESVPD demonstrate that both the vaccination coverage and seropositivity rates for polio remained high in children after IPV introduction.

Molecular evolution of the capsid gene in human norovirus genogroup II.

Capsid protein of norovirus genogroup II (GII) plays crucial roles in host infection. Although studies on capsid gene evolution have been conducted for a few genotypes of norovirus, the molecular evolution of norovirus GII is not well understood. Here we report the molecular evolution of all GII genotypes, using various bioinformatics techniques. The time-scaled phylogenetic tree showed that the present GII strains diverged from GIV around 1630CE at a high evolutionary rate (around 10(-3) substitutions/site/year), resulting in three lineages. The GII capsid gene had large pairwise distances (maximum > 0.39). The effective population sizes of the present GII strains were large (>10(2)) for about 400 years. Positive (20) and negative (over 450) selection sites were estimated. Moreover, some linear and conformational B-cell epitopes were found in the deduced GII capsid protein. These results suggested that norovirus GII strains rapidly evolved with high divergence and adaptation to humans.

Genetic variability in the sapovirus capsid protein.

Sapovirus (SV), which causes gastroenteritis in humans, is composed of genetically divergent viruses classified into 5 genogroups. In this study, 2.2-kb nucleotide sequences of the 3' terminus of the genome of 15 SV strains detected in Japan were determined. The 15 SV strains could be classified into four genogroups (GI, GII, GIV and GV), and in two of these, GI and GII, 10 genotypes were identified. The amino acid sequences of the central variable region of the capsid protein showed less than 81% identity when strains belonging to different genotypes were compared. It was therefore supposed that antigenic variety exists between different genotypes. These results will be useful for further genetic and antigenic analyses of SV.