A previously unknown reovirus of bat origin is associated with an acute respiratory disease in humans.

ABSTRACT: Respiratory infections constitute the most widespread human infectious disease, and a substantial proportion of them are caused by unknown etiological agents. Reoviruses (respiratory enteric orphan viruses) were first isolated from humans in the early 1950s and so named because they were not associated with any known disease. Here, we report a previously unknown reovirus (named "Melaka virus") isolated from a 39-year-old male patient in Melaka, Malaysia, who was suffering from high fever and acute respiratory disease at the time of virus isolation. Two of his family members developed similar symptoms approximately 1 week later and had serological evidence of infection with the same virus. Epidemiological tracing revealed that the family was exposed to a bat in the house approximately 1 wee

SUBMITTER: Chua KB 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1899191 | biostudies-literature | 2007 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature