Investigation of a large waterborne acute gastroenteritis outbreak caused by group B rotavirus in Maharashtra state, India

Joshi, Madhuri S.; Lole, Kavita S.; Barve, Uday S.; Salve, Dawal S.; Ganorkar, Nital N.; Chavan, Nutan A.; Shinde, Manohar S.; Gopalkrishna, Varanasi

An acute gastroenteritis outbreak at Devli Karad village, Maharashtra, India with an attack rate of 22.6% affected mainly adolescent and adult population. The viral investigations conducted on fecal specimens of patients hospitalized indicated the presence of rotavirus B (RVB) using RNA polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction. The samples collected from the source of drinking water also showed the presence of the only RVB. Absence of other viral agents and identification of RVB of genotype G2 as the etiological agent of the acute gastroenteritis outbreak highlights, the necessity of monitoring RVB, the viral agent known for its large outbreak potential.