Human Adenovirus Type 14

Human adenovirus type 14 (HAdV-14) was first identified in the 1950s, but it was rarely detected.

In 2005, a newly re-emerged human adenovirus type 14 strain called HAdV-B14p1, was identified in the United States. HAdV-B14p1 has some genetic differences from the type 14 strain detected in the 1950s, and it can cause more severe illness compared with other adenovirus types. However, infections with this strain are not common. When infections do occur, they are usually not serious. Severe illness or death from HAdV-B14p1 infection is rare. Typical symptoms are like those of many common viral and bacterial infections, including flu.

Some past occurrences of HAdV-B14p1 illness include—

• Clusters of people with pneumonia in Oregon in 2007 and in Alaska in 2008. Such reports are unusual because adenovirus infections typically occur sporadically and not in clusters.
• A cluster of new military recruits with acute respiratory disease during basic training at Texas Air Force Base in 2007. Some recruits had severe illness and were hospitalized. But most recruits had mild or moderate illness with cold-like symptoms.
• Nine confirmed cases of severe HAdV-B14p1 infection in Ireland in 2009 and 2010.