Abstract:Objective To understand the epidemiological and genotypic characteristics of norovirus (NoV) in Jingzhou area,and to design primers and probes covering the variant genomes in the NoV gene library. Methods A total of 556 fecal samples were collected from suspected NoV patients from the First People’s Hospital of Jingzhou from January 2022 to May 2023. The positive rate of NoV nucleic acid in fecal samples was detected by commercial kits. The differences in positive rates among different seasons and five age groups were statistically analyzed. Primers covering the NoV variant genome were designed to genotype some positive specimens. Results The detection rate of NoV nucleic acid in the tested samples was 30.04% (167/556). The detection rate in spring and winter was higher than that in summer and autumn (χ2=20.411,P<0.01). There were statistical differences in the positive rates among the five age groups of <1 year, 1-5 years, 6-10 years, 11-19 years, and >19 years (χ2=17.192,P<0.01), and the positive rate in young children (1~5 years old) was the highest (39.29%, 88/224). In addition, all the positive samples were NoV GII. Conclusion The epidemic situation of NoV is serious in winter and spring in Jingzhou area, with a high infection rate in young children (1-5 years old), and NoV GII is the main prevalent genotype. The primers designed in this study can be used for genotyping of NoV GI and GII.