Aim: Molecular characterization of enterovirus A71 (EV-A71) and coxsackievirus A24 (CVA-24) strains isolated during neurological diseases surveillance activities in Tunisian patients. Materials & methods: Specimens were obtained from two Tunisian children and analyzed for enterovirus with quantitative reverse transcription PCR (RT-qPCR). We sequenced the whole genome of strains detected. Results: The EV-A71 sequence reported was assigned to subgenogroup C2 with a high nucleotide sequence identity to other EV-A71 C2 detected in other countries, which suggests virus migration. Interestingly, in the VP1 coding region, the Tunisian CV-A24 strain displayed high sequence divergence from other CV-A24, which confirms that it represents a new genogroup. Conclusion: This is the first report of EV-A71 in Tunisia and the first report of a CV-A24 strain causing aseptic meningitis.

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References

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Vol. 17, No. 8

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History

Received 6 October 2021

Accepted 26 May 2022

Published online 15 June 2022

Published in print August 2022

Information

Keywords

Supplementary data

To view the supplementary data that accompany this paper please visit the journal website at: www.futuremedicine.com/doi/suppl/10.2217/fvl-2021-0284

Acknowledgments

The authors acknowledge the technical assistance of G Jugie and I Simon.

Financial & competing interests disclosure

I Othman received a fellowship grant from the Ministère de l'Enseignement Supérieur et de la Recherche Scientifique of Tunisia. The authors have no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed.

No writing assistance was utilized in the production of this manuscript.

Ethical conduct of research

The study and use of samples for testing were approved by the local Tunisian Ethic and Research Committee (CHU Fattouma Bourguiba, Monastir; committee’s advice on 26 June 2014).

Availability of data & materials

The whole raw dataset used maybe available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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