In the winter of 2014/15 a novel GII.P17-GII.17 norovirus
strain (GII.17 Kawasaki 2014) emerged, as a major
cause of gastroenteritis outbreaks in China and Japan.
Since their emergence these novel GII.P17-GII.17
viruses have replaced the previously dominant GII.4
genotype Sydney 2012 variant in some areas in Asia
but were only detected in a limited number of cases on
other continents. This perspective provides an overview
of the available information on GII.17 viruses in
order to gain insight in the viral and host characteristics
of this norovirus genotype. We further discuss
the emergence of this novel GII.P17-GII.17 norovirus
in context of current knowledge on the epidemiology
of noroviruses. It remains to be seen if the currently
dominant norovirus strain GII.4 Sydney 2012 will be
replaced in other parts of the world. Nevertheless,
the public health community and surveillance systems
need to be prepared in case of a potential increase of
norovirus activity in the next seasons caused by this
novel GII.P17-GII.17 norovirus.
