Epidemiology and molecular characterisation of duck hepatitis A virus from different duck breeds in Egypt

Vet Microbiol. 2015 Jun 12;177(3-4):347-52. doi: 10.1016/j.vetmic.2015.03.020. Epub 2015 Mar 27.

Abstract

Duck hepatitis virus (DHV) is an acute highly contagious disease of ducklings caused by three distinct serotypes of duck hepatitis A virus (DHAV), a member of the RNA family Picornaviridae, where serotype 1 is the most widespread serotype worldwide. To date, little if any is known about the prevalence and genetic characterisation of DHAV outside Asia. The current study describes surveillance on DHV in 46 commercial duck farms in Egypt with a history of high mortality in young ducklings from 3 to 15 day-old from 2012 to 2014. Clinical samples were examined by generic RT-PCR assays followed by partial sequence analysis of the 5'UTR, VP1 and 3D genes of the vaccine strain and 15 field viruses. The overall positive rate was 37% (n=17/46). All duck breeds (Pekin, Muscovy, Mallard and Green Winged) were susceptible to the disease with mortality ranged from 15% to 96.7%. Sequence and phylogenetic analyses indicated that the Egyptian strains cluster in the DHAV serotype 1 with Asian viruses and distinguishable from the vaccine strains. So far, this is the first report on the genetic characterisation of DHAV in Egypt. This study may be useful to better understand the epidemiology and evolution of DHAV.

Keywords: Duck hepatitis A virus; Ducklings; Egypt; Epidemiology; Picornavirus; RT-PCR.

MeSH terms

  • 5' Untranslated Regions / genetics
  • Animals
  • Breeding
  • Capsid Proteins / chemistry
  • Capsid Proteins / genetics
  • Ducks* / classification
  • Ducks* / virology
  • Egypt / epidemiology
  • Hepatitis Virus, Duck / classification
  • Hepatitis Virus, Duck / genetics*
  • Hepatitis Virus, Duck / isolation & purification
  • Kidney / pathology
  • Kidney / virology
  • Liver / pathology
  • Liver / virology
  • Molecular Sequence Data
  • Phylogeny
  • Picornaviridae Infections / epidemiology
  • Picornaviridae Infections / veterinary*
  • Picornaviridae Infections / virology
  • Polymerase Chain Reaction / veterinary
  • Poultry Diseases / epidemiology
  • Poultry Diseases / mortality
  • Poultry Diseases / virology*
  • Prevalence
  • Sequence Analysis / veterinary
  • Spleen / pathology
  • Spleen / virology

Substances

  • 5' Untranslated Regions
  • Capsid Proteins

Associated data

  • GENBANK/KP148263
  • GENBANK/KP148264
  • GENBANK/KP148265
  • GENBANK/KP148266
  • GENBANK/KP148267
  • GENBANK/KP148268
  • GENBANK/KP148269
  • GENBANK/KP148270
  • GENBANK/KP148271
  • GENBANK/KP148272
  • GENBANK/KP148273
  • GENBANK/KP148274
  • GENBANK/KP148275
  • GENBANK/KP148276
  • GENBANK/KP148277
  • GENBANK/KP148278
  • GENBANK/KP148279
  • GENBANK/KP148280
  • GENBANK/KP148281
  • GENBANK/KP148282
  • GENBANK/KP148283
  • GENBANK/KP148284
  • GENBANK/KP148285
  • GENBANK/KP148286
  • GENBANK/KP148287
  • GENBANK/KP148288
  • GENBANK/KP148289
  • GENBANK/KP148290
  • GENBANK/KP148291
  • GENBANK/KP148292
  • GENBANK/KP148293
  • GENBANK/KP148294
  • GENBANK/KP148295
  • GENBANK/KP148296
  • GENBANK/KP148297
  • GENBANK/KP148298
  • GENBANK/KP148299
  • GENBANK/KP148300
  • GENBANK/KP148301
  • GENBANK/KP148302
  • GENBANK/KP148303
  • GENBANK/KP148304
  • GENBANK/KP148305
  • GENBANK/KP148306
  • GENBANK/KP148307
  • GENBANK/KP148308
  • GENBANK/KP148309
  • GENBANK/KP148310