Rotavirus is the most common cause of acute gastroenteritis in infants and children worldwide. The study is hospital-based surveillance of rotavirus diarrhea in children from Imphal, Manipur, India conducted from December 2015 to March 2019. The positivity rate was found to be high ?69.25% (358/517) and proportion of diarrhea cases and rotavirus diarrhea was peak in winter months and mostly in children from 6 to 24 months. G3 (43%) was the most widely circulating genotype in Imphal followed by G1 (16%), G2 (8%), G9 (5%), G8 (3%), G10 (1%), and G4 (1%), while G12 (0.26%) was rarely detected. Among P-types, P[6] (22%) accounted for the highest prevalence followed by P[8] (11%) and P[4] (4%), P[11] (4%), P[10] (3%), P-type mixed infection 3%, while 53% were untypeable. In G/P combinations, we detected 22 different rotavirus strains at varying frequencies. Globally distributed G3P[8] and G1P[8] strains were observed in the study. G3P[6] emerged as the most predominant rotavirus strain followed by G3P[8], G1P[6], G1P[8], and G9P[6]. The common rotavirus strains distributed across the region namely G3P[8], G1P[8], G2P[4], G9P[4], G1P[4], G1P[6], and G9P[6] were also observed. Interestingly, our study has observed a high percentage of unusual strains namely G9P[4], G1P[11], G2P[11], G3P[10], G3P[11], G4P[11], G9P[10], G9P[11],G10P[6], and G10P[8]. Of note, the high frequency of non-typeable rotavirus P-types (56%) are suggestive of point mutations that might have accumulated in the primer-binding region of VP4 gene. The findings of the present study revealed the hospital-based prevalence of rotavirus disease and the circulating genotypes during the pre-vaccination period and highlights the need for continuous surveillance of rotavirus infection post-rotavac vaccine introduction in the state of Manipur, India

The incidence and severity of begomovirus diseases have been increasing around the world recently, and the ridge gourd [Luffa acutangula (Roxb.) L.] is the latest example of a crop that has become highly susceptible to the outbreak of the tomato leaf curl New Delhi virus (ToLCNDV, genus Begomovirus) in India. Accurate diagnosis of causal agents is important in designing disease management strategies. In this study the coat protein (CP) gene from a ToLCNDV-Rg ridge gourd isolate was used to produce polyclonal antibodies (ToLCNDV-Rg-CP-PAb) in a rabbit. The antibodies successfully detected a 30.5 kDa ToLCNDV-Rg-CP in extracts of symptomatic ridge gourd leaf samples by several assays, such as Western Blotting (WB), Dot Immuno Binding Assay (DIBA), Direct Antigen Coating Enzyme Linked Immuno Sorbent Assay (DAC-ELISA), Immuno Capture Polymerase Chain Reaction (IC-PCR), and Immuno Capture Loop-Mediated Isothermal Amplification (IC-LAMP) assays. However, none of the negative samples tested positive in either of the detection methods. Among all the methods tested, the immunocapture assay, IC-LAMP, was the most sensitive in detecting ToLCNDV-Rg. Furthermore, antibodies generated in this study also detected other commonly occurring begomoviruses in South India, such as tomato leaf curl Palampur virus and squash leaf curl China virus in cucurbits. Together, ToLCNDV-Rg-CP-PAb can be used for detecting at least three species of begomoviruses infecting cucurbits. The obtained antibodies will contribute to monitoring disease outbreaks in multiple crops.