Emerging Norovirus GII.17 in Taiwan: Figure 1.

TO THE EDITOR—Human noroviruses (NoVs) are one of the most common causative agents of acute gastroenteritis (AGE) worldwide. Among them, genotype 4 of NoV genogroup II (GII.4) has been the leading cause of NoV-associated AGE [1]. In Taiwan, NoV GII.4 has caused several outbreaks of AGE in either healthcare facilities or community since 2004 [2, 3]. In contrast, NoV GII.17 is considered an uncommon genotype for human infection. This genotypewas first reported from Africa and South America and recently was identified as an outbreak strain in Japan and China [4–6]. Here we report 2 cases of NoV GII.17 infection detected in Taiwan and compared their genome sequences with those collected from other regions of the world. This is the first report of GII.17 in Taiwan.