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International Conference on SARS - one year after the (first) outbreak

08. - 11.05.2004, Lübeck

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Identification of a new human coronavirus

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  • corresponding author presenting/speaker Lia van der Hoek - Department of Human Retrovirology Academic Medical Center, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
  • Krzysztof Pyrc - Department of Human Retrovirology Academic Medical Center, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
  • Maarten F. Jebbink - Department of Human Retrovirology Academic Medical Center, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
  • Wilma Vermeulen-Oost - Department of Human Retrovirology Academic Medical Center, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
  • Ron J.M. Berkhout - Department of Human Retrovirology Academic Medical Center, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
  • Katja C. Wolthers - Department of Human Retrovirology Academic Medical Center, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
  • Pauline M.E. Wertheim-Van Dillen - Department of Human Retrovirology Academic Medical Center, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
  • Jos Kaandorp - Department of Human Retrovirology Academic Medical Center, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
  • Joke Spaargaren - Department of Human Retrovirology Academic Medical Center, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
  • Ben Berkhout - Department of Human Retrovirology Academic Medical Center, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

International Conference on SARS - one year after the (first) outbreak. Lübeck, 08.-11.05.2004. Düsseldorf, Köln: German Medical Science; 2004. Doc04sars7.01

The electronic version of this article is the complete one and can be found online at: http://www.egms.de/en/meetings/sars2004/04sars034.shtml

Published: May 26, 2004

© 2004 van der Hoek et al.
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/deed.en). You are free: to Share – to copy, distribute and transmit the work, provided the original author and source are credited.

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Three human coronaviruses are known to exist: HCoV-229E, HCoV-OC43 and SARS-CoV. We identified a fourth human coronavirus (HCoV-NL63) using a new virus discovery method. The virus was isolated from a 7-month-old child suffering from bronchiolitis and conjunctivitis. The complete genome sequence demonstrates that this virus is not a recombinant, but a novel group 1 coronavirus. The in vitro host cell range of HCoV-NL63 is notable because it replicates on tertiary monkey kidney cells and the monkey kidney LLC-MK2 cell line. The viral genome contains distinctive features, including a unique N-terminal fragment within the spike protein. Screening of clinical specimens from individuals suffering from respiratory illness identified seven additional HCoV-NL63-infected individuals, indicating that the virus was widely spread within the human population.