Group A Rotavirus Associated with Encephalitis in Red Fox

Abstract

In 2011, a group A rotavirus was isolated from the brain of a fox with encephalitis and neurologic signs, detected by rabies surveillance in Italy. Intracerebral inoculation of fox brain homogenates into mice was fatal. Genome sequencing revealed a heterologous rotavirus of avian origin, which could provide a model for investigating rotavirus neurovirulence.

A Remarkable Genetic Diversity of Rotavirus A Circulating in Red Fox Population in Croatia

“…Moreover, nine P genotypes, specifically, P [3], P [11], P [13], P [14], P [21], P [23], and three tentatively novel P genotypes, were detected. In total, eight genotype combinations were detected in nine foxes, as follows: G8P [14] (N = 1), G9P [3] (N = 1), G9P [23] (N = 1), G10P [11] (N = 1), G10P [3] (N = 1), G11P [13] (N = 1), G15P [21] (N = 1), and G?P[?] (N = 2).…”

“…Two sequences included in the phylogenetic analysis had only 82.4% identity at the nt level (95.6% at the aa level), which is evident from their clustering into different lineages (Figure 2). The sequence of the RVA/Fox-wt/HRV/L157-VS/2018/G8P [14] strain is moderately similar to that of goat, sheep, bovine, and one human G8 RVA strain (91.2-93.3% at the nt and 97.2-97.6% at the aa level), while the RVA/Fox-wt/HRV/L136-VS/2018/G8P[X] strain shares high sequence identity with cow, dog, pig, alpaca, rabbit, vicuna, roe deer, and human strains (96.7-97.5% at the nt and 98.1-98.2% at the aa level) (Figure 2).…”

“…The P [14] genotype was identified in the RVA strain detected in a fox from Vukovar-Srijem County in 2018. This genotype was found in combination with the G8 genotype (strain RVA/Fox-wt/HRV/L157-VS/2018/G8P [14]), both considered to be of Artiodactyla origin.…”

“…The P [14] genotype was identified in the RVA strain detected in a fox from Vukovar-Srijem County in 2018. This genotype was found in combination with the G8 genotype (strain RVA/Fox-wt/HRV/L157-VS/2018/G8P [14]), both considered to be of Artiodactyla origin. Nevertheless, this fox RVA strain showed the closest phylogenetic relatedness and the highest sequence identity with human RVA strains (98.5% at the nt and 98.5% at the aa level with the KU508383 strain detected in Hungary), as presented in Figure 3, indicating possible zoonotic potential.…”

“…Among wild animals, red foxes (Vulpes vulpes) are especially interesting since they colonize urban and semi-urban areas and, therefore, may represent a disease spillover risk to human and animal health [12]. So far, the research on RVAs in red foxes comes down to one result obtained by negative-contrast electron microscopy [13] and the recent description of RVA as a causative agent of encephalitis [14]. The latter case is an interesting finding of an avian origin RVA strain affecting a mammalian host.…”