Human, porcine and bovine rotaviruses in Slovenia: evidence of interspecies transmission and genome reassortment.
A surveillance of human, porcine and bovine rotaviruses was carried out in Slovenia in 2004 and 2005. Stool samples were collected from a total of 406 pigs (373 from asymptomatic animals), 132 cattle (126 from asymptomatic animals) and 241 humans (all with diarrhoea), tested for group A rotaviruses using RT-PCR and analysed by sequencing. The aims of the study were to determine the incidence of asymptomatic rotavirus infection in animals, to look for evidence of zoonotic transmission and to detect reassortment among rotaviruses. The rates of asymptomatic shedding of rotaviruses in pigs and cattle were 18.0 % (67/373) and 4.0 % (5/126), respectively. Evidence for zoonotic transmission was detected in one human rotavirus strain, SI-MB6, with the G3P[6] genotype combination, as the nucleotide and predicted amino acid sequences of the VP6, VP7, VP8* and NSP4 genes of strain SI-MB6 and of porcine strains showed high nucleotide and amino acid sequence identity. Two porcine rotavirus strains carried VP7 of probable human origin, suggesting an interspecies reassortment event in the past.
Institute of Microbiology and Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ljubljana, Zaloška 4, SI-1104 Ljubljana, Slovenia.
Andrej
A
Steyer
Institute of Microbiology and Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ljubljana, Zaloška 4, SI-1104 Ljubljana, Slovenia.
Mateja
M
Poljšak-Prijatelj
College of Health Care, University of Primorska, Polje 42, SI-6310 Izola, Slovenia.|Institute of Microbiology and Parasitology, Veterinary Faculty, University of Ljubljana, Gerbičeva 60, SI-1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia.
Darja
D
Barlič-Maganja
Institute of Microbiology and Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ljubljana, Zaloška 4, SI-1104 Ljubljana, Slovenia.
Jožica
J
Marin
D000818:Animals; D002417:Cattle; D002418:Cattle Diseases / Q000635:transmission / Q000821:virology*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005243:Feces / Q000821:virology; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000235:genetics; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012401:Rotavirus / Q000145:classification* / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D012400:Rotavirus Infections / Q000821:virology*; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D017385:Sequence Homology; D017524:Slovenia / Q000453:epidemiology; D013552:Swine; D013553:Swine Diseases / Q000635:transmission / Q000821:virology*; D014764:Viral Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D017201:Virus Shedding; D015047:Zoonoses / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000821:virology
D012367:RNA, Viral; D014764:Viral Proteins