Identification of feline-like rotavirus strains in Sabah State of Malaysian Borneo.

Children in low- and middle-income countries experience a greater burden of rotavirus infection relative to developed countries. Malaysia is a middle-income country; however, like other South East Asian countries, studies on rotavirus are scarce. In an effort to understand the strain diversity, we performed a study in children under five years old who attended 4 health care centers in the Papar district of Sabah state of Malaysian Borneo and collected samples from 2020 to 2021. This study provides robust molecular evidence that strains detected in Sabah, Malaysia, were generated by intergenogroup reassortment. Reassortment is one of the evolutionary mechanisms that generate diversity in rotavirus strains. We characterized a rotavirus which possessed a long RNA pattern and an unusual combination of G6P[9]. These strains have a unique constellation of G6-P[9]-I2-R3-C3-M3-A3-N2-T6-E3-H6 with an AU1-like backbone and components from DS-1, indicating an intergenogroup reassortant. Of the 11 gene segments, five were closest to feline and 2 were closest to human strains, respectively; the rest were related to human-animal strains. Novel rotaviruses generated by reassortment might influence the disease outcome and vaccination effort.