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J. Clin. Microbiol. doi:10.1128/JCM.02354-07
Copyright (c) 2008, American Society for Microbiology and/or the Listed Authors/Institutions. All Rights Reserved.

Epidemic keratoconjunctivitis due to a novel hexon-chimeric intermediate human adenovirus 22,37/H8

Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, Hokkaido University Graduate School of Medicine, Sapporo 060-8638, Japan; Host Defense Laboratory, Mitsubishi Chemical Medience Corporation, Tokyo 108-8559, Japan; Department of Microbiology, Fukushima Medical University School of Medicine, Fukushima 960-1295, Japan; AIDS Vaccine Development Association, Tokyo 169-0075, Japan

^* To whom correspondence should be addressed. Email: Ishiko.Hiroaki{at}mp.medience.co.jp.

	Abstract

In a two-month period in 2003, we encountered an outbreak of epidemic keratoconjunctivitis (EKC) in Japan. We detected 67 human adenoviruses (HAdVs) by polymerase chain reaction from eye swabs of patients with EKC at 5 eye clinics in different parts of Japan. Forty-one of the 67 HAdVs DNA from the swabs were identified as HAdV-37 by phylogenetic analysis using a partial hexon gene sequence. When the restriction patterns of these viral genomes were compared with that of HAdV-37 prototype strain, one isolate showed a never-before-seen restriction pattern. Within one year, we encountered three more EKC cases caused by a genetically identical virus: two nosocomial infections at two different university hospitals and a sporadic infection at an eye clinic. We determined the nucleotide sequence of the full-length hexon and fiber genes of these isolates, and compared it to those of the 51 prototype strains. Surprisingly, the sequence of the hexon ( determinant) Loop-1 and -2 regions showed the highest nucleotide identity with HAdV-22, a rare EKC isolate. However, the nucleotide sequence of the fiber gene was identical to that of HAdV-8 prototype strain. We propose that this virus is a new hexon-chimeric intermediate human adenovirus 22,37/H8 and may be an etiological agent of EKC.