Multi-Province Outbreak of Acute Gastroenteritis Linked to Potential Novel Lineage of GII.17 Norovirus in Argentina in 2024

Abstract

Noroviruses represent one of the leading causes of outbreaks and sporadic acute gastroenteritis (AGE) cases across all age groups. Although the GII.4 norovirus has been identified as the primary cause of most AGE outbreaks, the transient predominance of other genotypes has been reported globally. In this study, we describe a multi-province AGE outbreak caused by a potential new lineage of norovirus GII.17[P17], which has been recently detected at a high incidence in the United States and Europe. An amino acid analysis of the major viral capsid protein revealed several substitutions in the hypervariable region compared to strains circulating in the mid-2010s, which could play a key role in immune evasion. This is the first report of the detection of these viruses in the Southern Hemisphere, underscoring the importance of maintaining active genomic surveillance in the context of increasing numbers of acute gastroenteritis outbreaks.