SNOW MOUNTAIN-LIKE VIRUS IDENTIFIED IN YOUNG-CHILDREN WITH WINTER VOMITING DISEASE IN SOUTH-AFRICA

Human caliciviruses have been reported to be associated with both epid emics of acute diarrhoeal illness and with sporadic cases of gastroent eritis in children. In this study, we report the identification of gen ogroup II small round-structured viruses or human caliciviruses associ ated with an outbreak of winter vomiting disease in South Africa. The virus was initially identified by electron microscopic examination of the stools and then further characterised by recombinant immunoassay w ith expressed capsid proteins to human caliciviruses from genogroups I and II. Both antigenically by the EIA and by sequence analysis of a r egion of the RNA-dependent RNA polymerase gene, the virus was shown to belong to genogroup II of the human Caliciviridae.