This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowReprints and Permissions
Right arrow Copyright Information
Right arrow Books from ASM Press
Right arrow MicrobeWorld
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Collins, P. J.
Right arrow Articles by O'Shea, H.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Collins, P. J.
Right arrow Articles by O'Shea, H.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Journal of Clinical Microbiology, October 2008, p. 3346-3354, Vol. 46, No. 10
0095-1137/08/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JCM.00995-08
Copyright © 2008, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Molecular Characterization of Equine Rotavirus in Ireland{triangledown}

P. J. Collins,1 A. Cullinane,2 V. Martella,3 and H. O'Shea1*

Department of Biological Sciences, Cork Institute of Technology, Rossa Avenue, Bishopstown, Cork, Ireland,1 Irish Equine Centre, Johnstown, Naas, County Kildare, Ireland,2 Department of Animal Health and Wellbeing, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of Bari, S.p. per Casamassima Km 3, 70010 Valenzano, Bari, Italy3

Received 23 May 2008/ Returned for modification 6 July 2008/ Accepted 7 August 2008

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.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Biological Sciences, Cork Institute of Technology, Rossa Avenue, Bishopstown, Cork, Ireland. Phone: 00353-21-4326370. Fax: 00353-21-4326951. E-mail: helen.oshea{at}cit.ie

{triangledown} Published ahead of print on 20 August 2008.

Journal of Clinical Microbiology, October 2008, p. 3346-3354, Vol. 46, No. 10
0095-1137/08/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JCM.00995-08
Copyright © 2008, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.





Copyright © 2009 by the American Society for Microbiology.   For an alternate route to Journals.ASM.org, visit: http://intl-journals.asm.org | More Info»