Molecular characterization of equine rotavirus in Ireland.
Group A rotaviruses are important causative agents of severe, acute dehydrating diarrhea in foals. A total of 86 rotavirus-positive fecal samples, collected from diarrheic foals from 11 counties in three of the four provinces of Ireland, were obtained from the Irish Equine Centre in Kildare during a 7-year (1999 to 2005) passive surveillance study and were characterized molecularly to establish the VP7 (G type) and VP4 (P type) antigenic specificities. Fifty-eight samples (67.5%) were found to contain G3 viruses, while in 26 samples (30.2%) the rotaviruses were typed as G14 and in 2 samples (2.3%) there was a mixed infection, G3 plus G14. All samples except for two, which were untypeable, were characterized as P[12]. Fifty-eight percent of the samples were obtained from County Kildare, the center of the Irish horse industry, where an apparent shift from G3P[12] to G14P[12] was observed in 2003. By sequence analysis of the VP7 protein, the G3 Irish strains were shown to resemble viruses of the G3A subtype (H2-like) (97.1 to 100% amino acid [aa] identity), while the G14 Irish strains displayed 93.9 to 97.1% aa identity to other G14 viruses. In the VP8* fragment of the VP4 protein, the P[12] Irish viruses displayed high conservation (92.3 to 100% aa) with other equine P[12] viruses. Worldwide, G3P[12] and G14P[12] are the most prevalent equine rotavirus strains, and G3P[12] vaccines have been developed for prevention of rotavirus-associated diarrhea in foals. Investigations of the VP7/VP4 diversity of the circulating equine viruses and the dynamics of strain replacement are important for better assessing the efficacies of the vaccines.
Collins
P J
PJ
Department of Biological Sciences, Cork Institute of Technology, Rossa Avenue, Bishopstown, Cork, Ireland.
Cullinane
A
A
Martella
V
V
O'Shea
H
H
D000818:Animals; D000956:Antigens, Viral / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology; D036022:Capsid Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology; D005243:Feces / Q000821:virology; D006734:Horse Diseases / Q000821:virology*; D006736:Horses; D007494:Ireland / Q000453:epidemiology; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000235:genetics; D012401:Rotavirus / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D012400:Rotavirus Infections / Q000662:veterinary* / Q000821:virology; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D012703:Serotyping
D000956:Antigens, Viral; D036022:Capsid Proteins; D012367:RNA, Viral; C060339:VP4 protein, Rotavirus; C050779:VP7 protein, Rotavirus