Virus particles and gastro-enteritis in Black and White Children in Rhodesia.

Stools from Black and White children with gastroenteritis and from controls were investigated for potentially pathogenic agents by conventional virological and bacteriological methods and by electron microscopy. Isolations were obtained in 30 percent of cases but electron microscopy more than doubled the number of agents found. Orbiviruses were present in 40 percent of all cases, often in combination with other organisms. There was no difference between the Black and White groups.