title: Phylogenetic analysis of the haemagglutinin gene of canine distemper virus strains detected from giant panda and raccoon dogs in China.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Canine distemper virus (CDV) infects a variety of carnivores, including wild and domestic Canidae. In this study, we sequenced and phylogenetic analyses of the hemagglutinin (H) genes from eight canine distemper virus (CDV) isolates obtained from seven raccoon dogs (Nyctereutes procyonoides) and a giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) in China.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Phylogenetic analysis of the partial hemagglutinin gene sequences showed close clustering for geographic lineages, clearly distinct from vaccine strains and other wild-type foreign CDV strains, all the CDV strains were characterized as Asia-1 genotype and were highly similar to each other (91.5-99.8% nt and 94.4-99.8% aa). The giant panda and raccoon dogs all were 549Y on the HA protein in this study, irrespective of the host species.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These findings enhance our knowledge of the genetic characteristics of Chinese CDV isolates, and may facilitate the development of effective strategies for monitoring and controlling CDV for wild canids and non-canids in China.
authors.affiliation: College of Veterinary Medicine, Sichuan Agricultural University, Ya'an, China.
authors.forename: Ling
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.forename: Shao-lin
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Cheng-dong
authors.initials: CD
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Rong
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Hou
authors.forename: Shi-jie
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Xiao-nong
authors.initials: XN
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Jie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Hai-bo
authors.initials: HB
authors.lastname: Pan
authors.forename: Zhong-xiang
authors.initials: ZX
authors.lastname: Hao
authors.forename: Man-li
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: San-jie
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Cao
authors.forename: Qi-gui
authors.initials: QG
authors.lastname: Yan
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002681:China; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D004217:Distemper Virus, Canine / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D014644:Genetic Variation; D006389:Hemagglutinins, Viral / Q000235:genetics*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D058974:Phylogeography; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000235:genetics; D011821:Raccoons / Q000821:virology*; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D001503:Ursidae / Q000821:virology*
chemical_list: D006389:Hemagglutinins, Viral; D012367:RNA, Viral