title: The first serological investigation of Chicken astrovirus infection in China.
abstract: Chicken astrovirus (CAstV) is associated with 'white chick' syndrome, which increases embryo mortality and reduces hatchability in chickens. In the present study, 1760 sera were collected from 21 provinces in China to detect antibodies directed against CAstV with an ELISA. The sera were from different varieties of chicken in 85 flocks and all the flocks produced positive reactions. The overall seroprevalence in the birds tested was 60.68%. The prevalence increased from 34.17% to 74.44% with the increase of age. The positivity rates in layer flocks, layer parent flocks, broiler flocks, broiler parent flocks, and domestic chicken flocks were 70.17%, 89.00%, 31.67%, 59.05%, and 45.79%, respectively. These data indicate that CAstV infections are very common in China. This is the first report of the seroprevalence of CAstV infections in China.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Animal Epidemiology and Zoonosis, Ministry of Agriculture, College of Veterinary Medicine, China Agricultural University, 100193 Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Jia
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Xue
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Animal Epidemiology and Zoonosis, Ministry of Agriculture, College of Veterinary Medicine, China Agricultural University, 100193 Beijing, China; Beijing TianTech Co., Ltd, 100085 Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Tao
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Han
authors.affiliation: Diagnostic & Research Center of Livestock and Poultry Epidemic Diseases, China Agricultural University, 100193 Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Meiyu
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Animal Epidemiology and Zoonosis, Ministry of Agriculture, College of Veterinary Medicine, China Agricultural University, 100193 Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Jing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Animal Epidemiology and Zoonosis, Ministry of Agriculture, College of Veterinary Medicine, China Agricultural University, 100193 Beijing, China; Diagnostic & Research Center of Livestock and Poultry Epidemic Diseases, China Agricultural University, 100193 Beijing, China. Electronic address: zhanggz@cau.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Guozhong
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Zhang
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D019350:Astroviridae Infections / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000276:immunology; D052676:Avastrovirus / Q000276:immunology*; D002645:Chickens / Q000276:immunology* / Q000821:virology*; D002681:China; D011201:Poultry Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000276:immunology / Q000821:virology; D016036:Seroepidemiologic Studies
keywords: CAstV; Chicken astrovirus; ELISA; Epidemiology; Serology