Heterogeneity within the hemagglutinin genes of canine distemper virus (CDV) strains detected in Italy

Abstract

Canine distemper virus (CDV) is a highly contagious viral pathogen causing lethal disease in dogs and other mammalians. A high degree of genetic variation is found between recent CDV strains and the old CDV isolates used in the vaccines and such genetic variation is regarded as a possible cause of the increasing number of CDV-related diseases in dogs. The H gene shows the greatest extent of genetic variation that allows for distinction of various lineages, according to a geographical pattern of distribution and irrespective of the species of identification. In the present study, hemagglutinin (H) genes obtained from field strains detected from clinical specimens of Italian dogs were analyzed genetically. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that a homogeneous group of CDV strains is widespread in Italian dogs, all which are included into the European lineage. Unexpectedly, strains 179/04 and 48/05 clustered along with CDVs of the Arctic lineage, the highest identity being to strain GR88 (98.0 and 98.4%aa, respectively). The full-length sequence of a red fox CDV strain, 207/00 was also determined and analyzed. The H protein of the fox CDV strain was unrelated to strains within the major European lineage. These results suggest that at least three different CDV lineages are present in Italy.

Molecular detection and phylogenetic relationship of wild-type strains of canine distemper virus in symptomatic dogs from Uberlândia, Minas Gerais

“…Furthermore, it was recently shown that there is divergence between vaccine and wild-type strains of CDV circulating within some Brazilian cities (Negrão et al, 2006) is probably resulting in the antigenic drift between CDV wild-type and vaccine strains. Similar differences between vaccine and novel wild-type strains of CDV have been identified in South Africa (Woma et al, 2010) and Europe (Martella et al, 2006), and might be the key to explain the several outbreaks of CD in urban vaccinated canine populations (Woma et al, 2010;Negrão et al, 2013). Antigenic drift relative to outbreaks of CD has also been associated with the concomitant presence of other viral agents within commercial vaccines (Woma et al, 2010).…”

Caracterização genética do gene da hemaglutinina em vírus da cinomose canina de cães naturalmente infectados no Brasil

“…This result is consistent with studies conducted throughout the world and in Brazil (MARTELLA et al, 2006;PANZERA et al, 2012;NEGRÃO et al, 2013), indicating that the H gene of CDV has evolved differently in wild and vaccine strains. This Z35493 AF378705 X84998 Z47760 AF172411 AY297454 AY297453 AB212730 AB212984 AB212983 DQ191787 AY849448 AY498892 AY438597 FJ392851 KC257484 KC257483 GQ214389 Z47759 X84999 KF835425 KF835424 KF835423 EU098105 FJ392652 JX912978 JX912976 JN215473 JN215474 JN215475 JN215476 JN215477 JX912971 JX912975 JX912958 JX912983 JX912959 EU098102 LBMICDV2 LBMICDV8 LBMICDV17 LBMICDV3 DQ494318 DQ494317 Z77672 Z77673 EU098104 LBMICDV3 LBMICDV5 LBMICDV25 LBMICDV21 .…”

“…The canine distemper virus (CDV) belongs to the genus Morbillivirus of the Paramyxoviridae family. CDV is an enveloped negative single-stranded RNA virus, and its genome encodes six structural proteins; the Haemagglutinin (H) glycoprotein has been used to characterize field strains (MARTELLA et al, 2006;PANZERA et al, 2012;NEGRÃO et al, 2013;BUDASZEWSKI et al, 2014). CDV is mainly controlled by vaccination using attenuated vaccines, but reports of the disease in vaccinated animals suggest that there are antigenic differences between wild CDV and the strains used in the vaccines that primarily occur in the haemagglutinin glycoprotein (BAE et al, 2013).…”

“…Strains with a genetic divergence greater than 4% can be considered as new viral strains (MARTELLA et al, 2006). Variation in the H gene can allow the virus to evade recognition by vaccine-induced antibodies, resulting in vaccine failure and the consequent appearance of outbreaks (IWATSUKI et al, 2000).…”

“…Given that the distance between Botucatu and Londrina is approximately 400 km and the distance between Londrina and Porto Alegre is around 1000 km, the data indicate that these two sub lineages are circulating in different regions (Figure 1). In addition to the geographical distance another possible factor may be the commercial relationship between these two regions, which could favour the emergence of new variants (PARDO et al, 2005;MARTELLA et al, 2006;PANZERA et al, 2015).…”