Co-Circulation of Canine Coronavirus I and IIa/b with High Prevalence and Genetic Diversity in Heilongjiang Province, Northeast China

PLoS One. 2016 Jan 15;11(1):e0146975. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0146975. eCollection 2016.

Abstract

To trace the evolution of canine coronavirus (CCoV), 201 stool samples from diarrheic dogs in northeast China were subjected to reverse transcription-polymerase chain reactions (RT-PCRs) targeting the partial M and S genes of CCoV, followed by an epidemiological analysis. M gene RT-PCRs showed that 28.36% (57/201) of the samples were positive for CCoV; of the 57 positive samples, CCoV-I and CCoV-II accounted for 15.79% (9/57) and 84.21% (48/57), respectively. A sequence comparison of the partial M gene revealed nucleotide homologies of 88.4%-100% among the 57 CCoV strains, and 88.7%-96.2% identity between the 57 CCoV strains and the Chinese reference strain HF3. The CCoV-I and CCoV-II strains exhibited genetic diversity when compared with reference strains from China and other countries. The 57 CCoV strains exhibited high co-infection rates with canine kobuvirus (CaKV) (33.33%) and canine parvovirus-2 (CPV-2) (31.58%). The CCoV prevalence in diarrheic dogs differed significantly with immunization status, regions, seasons, and ages. Moreover, 28 S genes were amplified from the 57 CCoV-positive samples, including 26 CCoV-IIa strains, one CCoV-IIb strain, and one CCoV-I strain. A sequence comparison of the partial S gene revealed 86.3%-100% nucleotide identity among the 26 CCoV-IIa strains, and 89.6%-92.2% identity between the 26 CCoV-IIa strains and the Chinese reference strain V1. The 26 CCoV-IIa strains showed genetic diversity when compared with reference strains from China and other countries. Our data provide evidence that CCoV-I, CCoV-IIa, and CCoV-IIb strains co-circulate in the diarrhoetic dogs in northeast China, high co-infection rates with CaKV and CPV-2 were observed, and the CCoV-II strains exhibited high prevalence and genetic diversity.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • China
  • Coronaviridae Infections / epidemiology
  • Coronaviridae Infections / veterinary*
  • Coronaviridae Infections / virology
  • Coronavirus, Canine / genetics*
  • Dog Diseases / epidemiology*
  • Dog Diseases / virology*
  • Dogs
  • Genetic Variation / genetics*

Grants and funding

This work is supported by the Program for New Century Excellent Talents in Heilongjiang Provincial University (grant no. 1252-NCET-016), and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant no. 31472209).