First detection and phylogenetic analysis of porcine circovirus type 2 in raccoon dogs

Abstract

Background Porcine circovirus type 2 (PCV2) is a major emerging virus of porcine circovirus-associated disease (PCVAD), which has brought huge economic losses to the global pig industry. Pigs are well known as the natural reservoir of PCV2. Recently, many researchers have revealed PCV2 could infect many other mammals like mice, calves, minks, dogs and goats. In 2018, our laboratory has admitted six cases of raccoon dogs from Qinhuangdao city of China, which were characterized by inappetence, lethargy, depression, abortion, and sterility. Results At last, six raccoon dog-origin PCV2 strains were isolated in this study. Pairwise-sequence comparisons demonstrated that the six raccoon dog-origin PCV2 strains shared a nucleotide similarity of 92.1–99.8% among 40 PCV2 representative strains. Phylogenetic analysis indicated these PCV2 isolates belonged to Chinese epidemic genotypes PCV2b and PCV2d. And aborted or sterile symptom was significantly associated with PCV2 infection in raccoon dogs by the chi-square test (χ 2 = 87.3, p < 0.001). The retrospective study revealed that raccoon dog-origin PCV2 strains shared 100% sequence similarity with the PCV2 stains isolated from pig farms around these raccoon dog farms, respectively. Conclusion In this study, the first supported evidence of PCV2 prevalence in raccoon dog farms of China was documented. PCV2 may be one of the most significant causative agents resulting in the reproductive failure of farmed raccoon dogs, implying that PCV2 could transmit from pigs to raccoon dogs. That indicated that PCV2 cross-species transmission will be a serious threat to China’s fur animal farming industry.

Reservoirs of Porcine Circoviruses: A Mini Review

“…In recent years, cases of infections due to porcine pathogens (such as Hepatitis E virus, Pseudorabies virus) have progressively in minks and foxes (41)(42)(43)(44). PCV2 was also reported in minks, foxes, and raccoon dogs with diarrhea or reproductive failure in China (45)(46)(47). Interestingly, the samples were tested negative for common pathogens (such as Mink enteritis virus, Canine distemper virus, Coronavirus, Rotavirus, or Astrovirus) of minks and foxes, indicating that PCV2 was also an important pathogen contributing to the clinical diseases of minks and foxes.…”

An epidemiological investigation of porcine circovirus 3 infection in dogs in the Guangxi Province from 2015 to 2017, China

“…It is worth noting that PCV2 could transmit to nonporcine hosts through cross-species transmission routes. Specifically, cattle, dogs and sheep can be infected with PCV2 (Li et al, 2011;Song et al, 2019;Wang et al, 2018;Zhai et al, 2017). Recently, a novel and genetically divergent circovirus, PCV3, was found in swine with PDNS, PMWS in the United States (Palinski et al, 2017).…”

Cellular p32 Is a Critical Regulator of Porcine Circovirus Type 2 Nuclear Egress

“…Canine circovirus causes hemorrhagic enteritis in dogs (17), mink circovirus infection causes refractory diarrhea (19), beak and feather disease virus (BFDV) causes abnormal feathering and beak deformities in parrots and pigeons (14), and goose circovirus causes production losses and death in geese (22). Because of the increased morbidity of circovirus-associated diseases in both mammalian and avian hosts, as well as the emergence of cross-species transmission events of circoviruses in some species (23), circoviruses have attracted more and more attention.…”