Prevalence of IgG antibodies to hepatitis E virus (IgG-anti-HEV) was determined among different animal species from India. Seropositivity varied from 4.4% to 6.9% in cattle, 54.6-74.4% in pigs and 2.1-21.5% in rodents. Of the 44 dogs screened, 10 were positive (22.7%). None of the 250 goat sera tested were found to be anti-HEV positive. Among rodents, over 50% serum samples collected in 1985 from Bandicota bengalensis were positive for anti-HEV antibodies. No evidence of HEV infection was obtained following experimental inoculation of an Indian strain (AKL-90) of HEV into anti-HEV negative pigs and goats. The results document varied prevalence of anti-HEV antibodies in different animal species from India and of inability of Indian pigs and goats to support replication of at least one human strain of HEV.

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An outbreak of encephalitis with a case fatality rate of 78.3% was investigated among children in Gujarat State, India. Twenty-six cases were reported. Three patients had IgM antibodies to Chandipura virus. Virus was isolated from one patient with rhabdomyosarcoma in porcine stable cell lines and in suckling mice. Chandipura virus RNA was present in 9 of 20 acute-phase serum samples, and virus sequences from the present outbreak were closely related to prototype strain (1965) and Andhra Pradesh, India (2003) isolates. Serologic and molecular assays documented the absence of Japanese encephalitis virus, West Nile virus, dengue virus, and paramyxoviruses in clinical samples. The etiologic agent was Chandipura virus, which has become an important encephalitis-causing virus in India.

A regional, multistate investigation into a June-August 2013 cyclosporiasis outbreak was conducted in Nebraska, Iowa, and neighbouring states. Cases were confirmed on the basis of laboratory and clinical findings. Of 227 cases in Iowa (n = 140) and Nebraska (n = 87) residents, 162 (71%) reported dining at chain A/B restaurants - 96% reported house salad consumption. A case-control study identified chain A/B house salad as the most likely vehicle. Traceback was conducted to ascertain production lot codes of bagged salad mix (iceberg and romaine lettuce, red cabbage, and carrots) served as house salad in implicated restaurants. A single production lot code of salad mix supplied by both a common producer and distributor was linked to the majority of confirmed cases in persons reporting regional chain A/B exposure. The salad mix linked to illnesses contained imported romaine lettuce from two separate single-grower fields-of-origin and ⩾1 additional field from another grower.

A hospital-based surveillance was undertaken between May 2005 and April 2006 to elucidate the contribution of Chandipura virus (CHPV) to acute viral encephalitis cases in children, seroconversion in recovered cases and to compare the seroprevalences of anti-CHPV IgM and N antibodies in areas reporting cases with those without any case of acute viral encephalitis. During this period, 90 cases of acute encephalitis were hospitalized in the pediatric wards of Mahatma Gandhi Memorial (MGM) Hospital, Warangal. There were 49 deaths (Case Fatality Rate, i.e., CFR of 54.4%). Clinical samples and records were obtained from 52 suspected cases. The cases were below 15 years, majority in 0-4 years (35/52, 67.3%). Computerized tomography (CT) scans and cerebro-spinal fluid (CSF) picture favored viral etiology. No neurological sequelae were observed. CHPV etiology was detected in 25 cases (48.1%, n ¼ 52; RNA in 20, IgM in 3 and N antibody seroconversion in 2). JEV etiology was detected in 5 cases (IgM in 4 cases and seroconversion in 1 case). Anti-CHPV IgM seroprevalence in contacts (26/167, 15.6%) was significantly higher (P < 0.05) than in noncontacts (11/430, 2.6%); which was also observed in children <15 years (19/90, 21.1% vs. 3/109, 2.7%). Anti-CHPV N antibody seroprevalence in <15 years contacts (66/90, 73.3%) and noncontacts (77/109, 70.6%) was significantly lower (P < 0.05) than in contacts (75/77, 97.4%) and non-contacts (302/321, 94.1%) more than 15 years respectively. CHPV appears to be the major cause of acute viral encephalitis in children in endemic areas during early monsoon months.