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letter
. 2008 Nov;14(11):1823–1825. doi: 10.3201/eid1411.080725

Prior Evidence of Putative Novel Rhinovirus Species, Australia

Ian M Mackay 1,2,✉, Stephen B Lambert 1,2, Peter K McErlean 1,2, Cassandra E Faux 1,2, Katherine E Arden 1,2, Michael D Nissen 1,2, Theo P Sloots 1,2
PMCID: PMC2630754  PMID: 18976588

To the Editor

Briese et al. (1) are to be congratulated for their delineation of the global geographic presence of human rhinovirus (HRV) strains similar to those reported in 2006 from one third of cases of an otherwise pathogen-negative respiratory outbreak in New York. Of equal importance is the temporal occurrence of these strains. Although it is intriguing to suggest, on the basis of limited sequence data, that these strains were circulating at least 2 centuries earlier (1), Briese et al. neglect to acknowledge empirical evidence that what we now call HRV-C strains circulated before 2004–2005. Unculturable PCR-positive rhinoviruses were reported in 1993; however, more compelling is the fact that subgenomic sequence and phylogenetic data were reported from Belgium (2), Australia (3), and then New York (4). The Belgium noncoding sequences were reported in 2006 but originated from specimens collected in 1998–1999. Australian coding sequences from 2003 to 2004 were assigned, for the first time, to a novel clade called HRV-A2, reflecting both their phylogenetic isolation and branching from the known HRV-A strains (3).

It can be deduced that NY-041 and NY-060, strains from the 2004 New York winter outbreak, are variants (>98% amino acid identity) of the first characterized HRV-A2 strain, HRV-QPM (4,5). More recently, we proposed that the HRV-A2 strains diverged sufficiently to meet several of the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses criteria for classifying a putative new species, HRV-C (6).

It is an exciting time for those interested in rhinoviruses. With increased implementation of multiplexed screening approaches (such as the MassTag PCR), or by simply including a specific and sensitive PCR for all known strains (7), further details of the geographic and temporal extent of the neglected rhinoviruses should soon be available. Better identification may finally enable accurate characterization of the clinical, economic, and social impact (8) of HRV infection.

Footnotes

Suggested citation for this article: Mackay IM, Lambert SB, McErlean PK, Faux CE, Arden KE, Nissen MD, et al. Prior evidence of putative novel Rhinovirus species, Australia [letter]. Emerg Infect Dis [serial on the Internet]. 2008 Nov [date cited]. Available from http://www.cdc.gov/EID/content/14/11/1823.htm

References

  • 1.Briese T, Renwick N, Venter M, Jarman RG, Ghosh D, Köndgen S, et al. Global distribution of novel rhinovirus genotype. Emerg Infect Dis. 2008;14:944–7. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
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  • 5.McErlean P, Shackleton LA, Lambert SB, Nissen MD, Sloots TP, Mackay IM. Characterisation of a newly identified human rhinovirus, HRV-QPM, discovered in infants with bronchiolitis. J Clin Virol. 2007;39:67–75. 10.1016/j.jcv.2007.03.012 [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
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  • 7.Lu X, Holloway B, Dare RK, Kuypers J, Yagi S, Williams JV, et al. Real-time reverse transcription-PCR assay for comprehensive detection of human rhinoviruses. J Clin Microbiol. 2008;46:533–9. 10.1128/JCM.01739-07 [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
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Emerg Infect Dis. 2008 Nov;14(11):1823–1825.

In Response

Thomas Briese 1,2,3,4,5,6,✉, Gustavo Palacios 1,2,3,4,5,6, W Ian Lipkin 1,2,3,4,5,6, Neil Renwick 1,2,3,4,5,6, Marietjie Venter 1,2,3,4,5,6, Richard G Jarman 1,2,3,4,5,6, Samuel R Dominguez 1,2,3,4,5,6, Kathryn V Holmes 1,2,3,4,5,6, Edward C Holmes 1,2,3,4,5,6

We appreciate the enthusiasm for our recent publication highlighting the global distribution of a long-unrecognized third clade of rhinoviruses. Robust, sequence-based clock estimates with associated confidence limits indicate that these viruses have been circulating for hundreds of years (1), consistent with the presence of such viruses in historic samples. As isolates from various collections are analyzed in informative regions (e.g., virus protein [VP] 4/2 or VP1), we will undoubtedly find examples in which human rhinoviruses (HRVs) could have been classified as members of the new species HRV-C but were not because the characteristics that define HRV-C were not yet appreciated or because only noncoding sequences had been analyzed. Indeed, we anticipate that waxing interest in HRVs may well lead to the discovery of additional clades.

There has been discussion in the field as to whether the novel sequences represent a sublineage HRV-A2 of the classified species HRV-A (2,3), as Mackay et al. had proposed, or whether they should be considered as representatives of a third species of HRV (4,5). The International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses (ICTV) is charged with the recognition and naming of taxonomic entities. Thus, we provisionally designated our sequences as a novel clade distinct from HRV-A and HRV-B (4) and submitted a proposal to ICTV with data supporting the recognition of HRV-C as a third species of rhinovirus. The proposal was recently approved by the ICTV Study Group on Picornaviruses (Europic May 2008 meeting in Sitges, Spain). Irrespective of taxonomic discourse, we agree with Mackay and colleagues that molecular analyses of as-yet-uncultured HRVs are fascinating and have potential to reveal unexpected insights into the role of HRVs in disease.

References

  • 1.Briese T, Renwick N, Venter M, Jarman RG, Ghosh D, Kondgen S, et al. Global distribution of novel rhinovirus genotype. Emerg Infect Dis. 2008;14:944–7. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 2.McErlean P, Shackelton LA, Lambert SB, Nissen MD, Sloots TP, Mackay IM. Characterisation of a newly identified human rhinovirus, HRV-QPM, discovered in infants with bronchiolitis. J Clin Virol. 2007;39:67–75. 10.1016/j.jcv.2007.03.012 [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 3.Lee WM, Kiesner C, Pappas T, Lee I, Grindle K, Jartti T, et al. A diverse group of previously unrecognized human rhinoviruses are common causes of respiratory illnesses in infants. PLoS One. 2007;2:e966. 10.1371/journal.pone.0000966 [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 4.Lamson D, Renwick N, Kapoor V, Liu Z, Palacios G, Ju J, et al. MassTag polymerase-chain-reaction detection of respiratory pathogens, including a new rhinovirus genotype, that caused influenza-like illness in New York State during 2004–2005. J Infect Dis. 2006;194:1398–402. 10.1086/508551 [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 5.Lau SK, Yip CC, Tsoi HW, Lee RA, So LY, Lau YL, et al. Clinical features and complete genome characterization of a distinct human rhinovirus (HRV) genetic cluster, probably representing a previously undetected HRV species, HRV-C, associated with acute respiratory illness in children. J Clin Microbiol. 2007;45:3655–64. 10.1128/JCM.01254-07 [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

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