Human metapneumovirus prevalence and molecular epidemiology in respiratory outbreaks in Ontario, Canada

Neemuchwala, Alefiya; Duvvuri, Venkata R.; Marchand‐Austin, Alex; Li, Aimin; Gubbay, Jonathan B.

Human metapneumovirus (hMPV) has been identified previously as a cause of respiratory outbreaks in adults, including the elderly. The objective of this study was to document respiratory outbreaks that were caused by hMPV in Ontario, Canada and to identify the various circulating genotypes during April 2009–February 2012. The majority of the outbreaks that were part of this study were in adults (>65 years). Total nucleic acid extraction was done on 123 residual anonymized clinical specimens from 51 different respiratory outbreaks. Specimens were subjected to PCR amplification and Sanger sequencing targeting the F and G genes of hMPV. Phylogenetic analysis was performed to identify genotypes. HMPV accounted for 195 (8.5%) of 2,292 respiratory outbreaks. Genotype A2b was most prevalent, detected in 28 (54.9%) of 51 typed hMPV‐positive outbreaks. The genotype A2b2 that was described recently was also identified. In earlier reports, subtype A1 was reported in Canada which was absent in the specimens typed in this study. This shift in genotype may be significant in terms of disease severity, and for any future vaccine considerations. Regular testing for hMPV should be done as part of outbreak investigation. J. Med. Virol. 87:269–274, 2015. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.