Comparative studies of human rotavirus serotype G8 strains recovered in South Africa and the United Kingdom

Epidemiological studies on the VP7 serotype prevalence of human rotaviruses in South Africa and the United Kingdom identified several strains which could not be serotyped as G1-G4 by monoclonal antibodies. Further analysis of these strains with a G8-specific monoclonal antibody and with probes for human rotaviruses confirmed them as G8 rotaviruses. These G8 strains exhibited a high degree of sequence identity when compared with each other and with other rotavirus G8 strains. Five South African strains were further characterized as VP6 subgroup I, but with a long RNA electropherotype, which is similar to the G8 strains previously isolated in Finland. In the UK strains, one was VP6 subgroup II with a long RNA electropherotype (similar to the Italian G8 strain). The other two were subgroup I with a short RNA electropherotype. None of these strains exhibited the super-short RNA electropherotype described in the prototype G8 strains recovered from Indonesia (69M).