First Detection and Characterization of Smacovirus in the Human Vagina in Two Sequential Samples over a Twelve-Day Interval

Background: Smacovirus is a CRESS-DNA virus identified almost exclusively in transient fecal samples from various vertebrate species. Objective: We evaluated human vaginal samples for the presence and maintenance of Smacovirus. Methods: Viral metagenomics analysis was performed on vaginal samples collected from 28 apparently healthy women in New York City, USA. Twenty-one of the women provided duplicate samples over a 12–21-day interval. Results: Phylogenetic analysis identified two samples from the same individual, collected over a twelve-day interval, that were positive for the complete Smacovirus genome. All detected sequence contigs belonged to a single variant of CRESS-DNA. Conclusions: The continuous presence of Smacovirus in the human vagina over a twelve-day period was identified.