1Diarrheic fecal specimens collected from porcine herds were screened for the presence of 2 group C rotaviruses using a reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction assay. A total of 3 188 samples were tested and 54 were positive. When compiled these data with diagnostic 4 results on group A rotaviruses and enteric caliciviruses we found that all but 5 group C 5 rotavirus positive samples contained at least one additional virus. A subset of samples were 6 subjected to nucleotide sequencing. The selected strains showed an unexpectedly wide range 7 of nucleotide sequence heterogeneity (88.6% to 100%) to each other and to the reference 8 porcine group C rotavirus strain, Cowden. The nucleotide sequence identity to the genuine 9 bovine and human strains were, respectively, 86.8% and 87.2% or less. In conclusion, our 10 study demonstrates that infection with group C rotavirus is frequent in Italian piggeries. The 11 considerable rate of multiple infections requires further studies to investigate the pathogenic 12 potential of group C rotaviruses in pigs, alone or in mixed infection, and raises challenges in 13 the laboratory diagnosis of porcine enteric infections. 14 15

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The genes encoding the glycoprotein VP7, the VP8* trypsin-cleavage product of the protein VP4, a fragment of the protein VP6 associated with subgroup (SG) specificity, and the enterotoxin NSP4 of rotavirus strains identified in diarrheic fecal samples of rabbits in Italy were sequenced. The Italian lapine rotavirus (LRV) strains possessed a G3 VP7, SG I VP6, and KUN-like NSP4, a gene constellation typical of LRVs. One LRV strain (30/96), isolated in 1996, shared the closest amino acid (aa) identity (87-96%) with the P[14] genotype, composed of human and LRV strains. Conversely, three LRV strains (160/01, 229/01, and 308/01), identified in 2001, were highly identical (90-95%) among each other, but showed low aa identity (34-77%) to the VP8* genotype-specific sequences of representative rotavirus strains of all remaining P genotypes. This report confirms the worldwide genetic constellations of LRVs and identifies a novel VP4 genotype in rabbits, tentatively proposed as genotype P[22].

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