Circulation of pantropic canine coronavirus in autochthonous and imported dogs, Italy

Abstract

Canine coronavirus (CCoV) strains with the ability to spread to internal organs, also known as pantropic CCoVs (pCCoVs), have been detected in domestic dogs and wild carnivores. Our study focused on the detection and molecular characterization of pCCoV strains circulating in Italy during the period 2014–2017 in autochthonous dogs, in dogs imported from eastern Europe or illegally imported from an unknown country. Samples from the gut and internal organs of 352 dogs were screened for CCoV; putative pCCoV strains, belonging to subtype CCoV‐IIa, were identified in the internal organs of 35 of the examined dogs. Fifteen pCCoV strains were subjected to sequence and phylogenetic analyses, showing that three strains (98960‐1/2016, 98960‐3/2016, 98960‐4/2016) did not cluster either with Italian or European CCoVs, being more closely related to alphacoronaviruses circulating in Asia with which they displayed a 94%–96% nucleotide identity in partial spike protein gene sequences. The pCCoV‐positive samples were also tested for other canine viruses, showing co‐infections mainly with canine parvovirus.

SARS-CoV-2 Infection in Dogs and Cats: Facts and Speculations

“…A recent paper has suggested the dog as an intermediate host for SARS-CoV-2 adaptation and transmission to humans ( 16 ). The hypothesis is based on the low frequency of CG dinucleotides (CpG) in the SARS-CoV-2 genome, which was much lower with respect to other betacoronaviruses, but similar to that observed in the canine alphacoronavirus (CCoV), with particular regards to that of a hypervirulent strain (pantropic CCoV) first detected in Italy ( 17 , 18 ), and later reported in other countries ( 19 , 20 ). The reduced number of CpGs may represent a pathogenicity marker, since these dinucleotides are the target for a cellular antiviral protein, the zinc finger antiviral protein (ZAP).…”

Molecular survey of parvovirus, astrovirus, coronavirus, and calicivirus in symptomatic dogs

“…In this study it was not possible to establish if positive dogs were affected by the pantropic or the enteric form of CcoV-IIa, for extra-intestinal tissues were not available from these patients, and sequence analysis of the S gene has not proved effective in discriminating pantropic from enteric forms (Alfano et al 2019 , 2020 ; Chen et al 2019 ). Also, no diagnostic tools are currently available to differentiate pCCoV from enteric CCoV strains (Decaro et al 2013 ).…”

Coronavirus Infections in Companion Animals: Virology, Epidemiology, Clinical and Pathologic Features

“…CCoV infection has a synergistic effect with canine parvovirus type 2, increasing severity of enteric disease [ 109 ]. More virulent strains of CCoV, capable of causing significant enteric disease in the absence of coinfection have recently been reported [ 110 ], as well as pantropic strains that cause a fatal systemic disease involving lethargy, inappetence, vomiting, hemorrhagic diarrhea, ataxia, and seizures [ 111 , 112 , 113 ]. CCoV has also been detected in a number of wild canids, including foxes and raccoon dogs in China [ 114 ] and wolves in Alaska [ 115 ] and Europe.…”