Electronmicroscopic evidence of torovirus like particles in children with diarrhoea.

Pleomorphic virus-like particles approximately 90 nm in diameter with short fringe (7-9 nm long) were observed in faecal specimens of two diarrhoeic children in the course of routine screening of samples for viruses by electronmicroscopy. No other viral, bacterial or parasitic pathogens were detected in the same samples. Immune electronmicroscopic examination showed that these virus like particles were agglutinated by immunesera raised against Breda I and Breda II viruses of calves. This observation suggests that torovirus may be a new viral pathogen of humans.