Adenovirus 38: a new human adenovirus species of subgenus D.

From the stool of a Dutch girl, a new virus (LJ) was isolated that by morphological, biological, and immunological criteria was a human adenovirus. Because of its hemagglutinating activity for rat and human red blood cells and its DNA restriction enzyme pattern, the virus was classified as a member of subgenus D. It was distinct in neutralization tests from all other human adenoviruses. The hemagglutinin was antigenically similar to that of adenoviruses 13 and 39, but the DNA differed from that of these two species. It is proposed to call virus LJ candidate Mastadenovirus h 38. Two other viruses belonging to the same new species were isolated in the USA.