Frequency of BCoV detection by a semi-nested PCR assay in faeces of calves from Brazilian cattle herds

Abstract

Bovine coronavirus (BCoV) is one of the main causes of neonatal calf diarrhoea. Several diagnostic assays have been employed to detect the presence of the virus in stool samples from calves. Despite this, the frequency of BCoV infection among Brazilian and even South American cattle herds has yet to be well characterised. This study describes the occurrence of BCoV infection among calves from dairy and beef herds in four Brazilian states. A total of 282 stool samples from 1 to 60-day-old calves were evaluated for the presence of BCoV by a semi-nested (SN) PCR assay. The animals were from herds (n = 23) located in three geographical regions in Brazil (south, southeast, and center-west). The specific BCoV amplicon was detected in 15.6% (44/282) of the faecal specimens examined, of which 95.4% (42/44) were from diarrhoeic and 4.6% (2/44) from asymptomatic calves. The specificity of the SN-PCR amplicons was evaluated by restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis. The results show that the BCoV is widespread, mainly among calves from 16 to 30-days-old (p = 0.0023), and verify the association between BCoV infection and clinical signs of diarrhoea (p = 0.005). These findings emphasise the importance of this virus in enteric infections of Brazilian cattle herds.

Brazilian strain of bovine respiratory coronavirus is derived from dual enteric and respiratory tropism

“…Since the first description of a Brazilian BCoV associated with calf diarrhea, most Brazilian strains of enteric origin have now been described and characterized by molecular methods (Jerez et al, 2005;Takiuchi et al, 2008;Stipp et al, 2009;Ribeiro et al, 2016); in addition, assessment of major public databases did not reveal any description of BRCoV in other South American countries. This study investigates the recent molecular evolution of BCoV by addressing the phylogenetic relationship between the enteric and winter dysentery strains based on a polymorphic region of the Brazilian BRCoV.…”

An outbreak of winter dysentery caused by bovine coronavirus in a high-production dairy cattle herd from a tropical country

“…Economic losses are the primary concern of newborn or adult BCoV infection, as the morbidity rates are high and may reach up to 100% of the herd. BCoV also infects the respiratory tract of calves and feedlot cattle Traven et al, 2001;Stipp et al, 2009).…”

Rapid and Sensitive Detection of Bovine Coronavirus and Group A Bovine Rotavirus from Fecal Samples by Using One-Step Duplex RT-PCR Assay

“…Subsequently, the presence of BCoV was tested by using the one-step duplex RT-PCR in comparison with a semi-nested PCR assay described previously [15]. It indicated that two samples were identified as BCoV positive with the one-step duplex RT-PCR, the result was compatible with that from the semi-nested PCR assay (Fig.…”