Isolation and full genome sequencing of two human Astroviruses isolated from children in Cairo, Egypt

Astroviridae is a diverse family of viruses that are circulating in a wide range of hosts. Diversity of these viruses plays a major role in the emergence of zoonotic diseases. Limited studies were conducted on the prevalence and genetic proprieties of human Astroviruses in Egypt. Despite the molecular and serological evidences of the existence human astroviruses in several regions of Egypt, attempts to isolate these viruses have been largely unsuccessful. The aims of the current study were to isolate and make full genome sequencing of two human Astroviruses genotype 1 and 4, from infected children in Cairo, Egypt. Currently, we report the isolation and full-genome sequencing of two human isolates based on our novel designed overlapped primers. The original stool samples were collected from children suffering from diarrhea, residing in Abo-El-Reesh Hospital, Cairo, Egypt, and were well characterized as having astrovirus infections. The phylogenetic relationship of the obtained sequences of our isolates collected in 2016, revealed that they are related to human astrovirus genotype 1 (HAstV1) and human astrovirus genotype 4 (HAstV4) isolates recovered from Italy and Russia; respectively, during this decade. The genetic diversity of the other HAstVs circulating in Egypt needs to be fully identified, as a first step toward the control strategy of this neglected virus.