title: Development of a real-time quantitative PCR for detecting duck hepatitis a virus genotype C.
abstract: Recently, duck hepatitis A virus genotype C (DHAV-C), a causative agent of duck viral hepatitis, has been responsible for increasing economic losses in the duck industry in China and South Korea. In this study, a real-time PCR assay targeting the 2C gene for detecting DHAV-C was developed. The assay was confirmed to be specific and sensitive, and the minimum detection limit was 3.36 × 10(3) copies per reaction, making this assay suitable for rapid diagnosis of DHAV-C infection from clinical samples. In addition, the dynamics of the viral loads in tissues of specific-pathogen-free (SPF) ducklings infected with DHAV-C were investigated using this method. The DHAV-C could be detected earliest in the liver within 12 h postinfection. Moreover, high viral loads were identified in the heart, liver, spleen, lung, kidney, bursa of Fabricius, thymus, pancreas, brain, and small intestine after 24 h postinfection. Taking the data collectively, the study described in this report is the first to have developed a real-time PCR method for detection of DHAV-C and thus contributes to pathogenicity research.
authors.affiliation: College of Life Science and Technology, Southwest University for Nationalities, Chengdu, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Qiuxue
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Hua
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yue
authors.forename: Bin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Peiting
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Nie
authors.forename: Cheng
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Tang
mesh_terms: D000825:Animal Structures / Q000821:virology; D000818:Animals; D001715:Bird Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000821:virology; D002681:China; D004372:Ducks; D005838:Genotype; D006524:Hepatitis, Viral, Animal / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000821:virology; D025202:Molecular Diagnostic Techniques / Q000379:methods; D010849:Picornaviridae / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D010850:Picornaviridae Infections / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000662:veterinary* / Q000821:virology; D060888:Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods*; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D014730:Veterinary Medicine / Q000379:methods*; D019562:Viral Load; D014773:Virology / Q000379:methods*