New Jersey polyomavirus (NJPyV, also known as Human polyomavirus 13) is a virus of the polyomavirus family that infects human hosts. It was first identified in 2014 in a pancreatic transplant patient in New Jersey. It is the 13th and most recent human polyomavirus to be described.[2]
NJPyV was first reported in 2014 after it was isolated from epithelial cells of a pancreatic transplant patient presenting with blindness, vasculitis, myopathy, and dermatosis. After doctors were unable to identify known viral causes of the patient's symptoms, a research team led by virologist Ian Lipkin screened samples of affected tissue for the presence of novel viruses, and identified the genome of a novel polyomavirus.[2][3]
The prevalence of NJPyV is unknown, though other human polyomaviruses are fairly common and usually asymptomatic.[6] Only a small number of studies have yet attempted to screen for NJPyV seroprevalence in the general population. Although one study reported its prevalence at nearly 60% of the study population,[7] others have found prevalence to be very low[8][9] or undetectable.[10][11] It is unclear if the New Jersey index case was newly infected at the time symptoms manifested, or if a latent infection was reactivated in the context of stress and immunosuppression (a known mechanism of pathogenicity for polyomaviruses).[2]
Clinical manifestations
NJPyV was discovered in clinical samples from a single patient; outside of this case report, the clinical effects of NJPyV are unknown.[2]
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