Clonal Spread of Geomyces destructans among Bats, Midwestern and Southern United States

using Vero and RD-18S cells, was unsuccessful. This result is consistent with previous EV-104 reports, wherein the virus could not be grown or isolated (1,2). To determine the presence of other respiratory viruses in this patient, the EV-104–positive specimen was tested by using realtime PCR for any of 17 other viruses (human metapneumovirus, respiratory syncytial virus, human parainfl uenza virus types 1–4, human bocavirus, human coronavirus [229E, OC43, HKU1, NL63], infl uenza virus [A, pandemic (H1N1) 2009, B, C], human adenovirus, and HRV). No other viruses were detected (data not shown). This result indicates that EV104 was associated with upper RTI in this patient. During the 2 months in which the EV-104–positive sample was collected, infl uenza A virus, HRV, and respiratory syncytial virus were most frequently detected in other patients, and no enterovirus was observed in other specimens from persons with RTI. EV-104 detection is rare (5/1,500 [0.3%] for a 1-year study in Italy [1]; 8/1,592 [0.5%] for a 10-year study in Switzerland [2]). As part of a virus surveillance program in Osaka City, Japan, during November 2010–October 2011, a total of 645 respiratory tract specimens were collected from children with RTI (360 male, 285 female; age 0–59 months, mean ± SD 18.9 ± 13.8 months) and subjected to PCR by using EVP4 and OL68-1 primers. No EV-104 was detected. In 2 previous studies in Japan, we detected no EV-104 in 764 specimens from patients with RTI during November 2008 and October 2010 (3,7); therefore, we have found EV-104 in only 1 (0.07%) of 1,410 samples tested. Infrequent detection and insensitivity to cell culture contribute to the rarity of EV-104 identifi cation. However, given the lack of contact between EV-104–positive patients in Italy and Switzerland, more RTI patients might actually be carrying EV-104 than testing has indicated. The collection of additional EV-104 strains and associated epidemiologic and virologic information will help clarify the role of this virus in RTI.