Rare virus found in New Zealand

Scientists have identified a rare virus, which targets young children, for the first time in New Zealand.

The Environmental Science Research team has been looking into a string of gastroenteritis outbreaks and stumbled upon the virus, known as human parechovirus (HPeV3), during the course of their investigation.


There have been no reports of a rare virus, found for the first time on New Zealand, in the Bay of Plenty.

The virus was found in a sample of faeces from a two-year-old child in 2012, who was ill during a gastro outbreak at a childcare centre, reported Stuff.

'It is good to see this detailed work being done on what may have caused outbreaks where an organism was not detected by laboratory testing at the time,” says Bay of Plenty Medical Officer of Health Dr Jim Miller.

'However, the implications and recommendations raised are not local issues.”

There have been no reports of any such disease in the Bay of Plenty.

Dr Richard Hall says the virus can trigger potentially fatal diseases in young children and babies, including blood infections and inflammation of the brain.

He says it can affect different tissue types in the body, such as membranes surrounding the brain.

'But there is still a lot we don't know about it,” he adds.

HPeV3 was first identified in Japan in 2004 but until recently only one other case in Bolivia had been reported.

However, it has increasingly raised its head and last year was behind an outbreak of blood infection among children in Australia.

Richard is recommending testing for the virus, which already takes place in the US, Japan and Europe.

You may also like....

0 comments

Leave a Comment


You must be logged in to make a comment.