Identification and characterization of deer astroviruses

Abstract

The threat of emerging infectious viruses in humans requires a more effective approach regarding virus surveillance. A thorough understanding of virus diversity in wildlife provides epidemiological baseline information about pathogens and may lead to the identification of newly emerging pathogens in the future. In this study, diarrhoea samples from an outbreak of gastrointestinal illness in a Danish population of European roe deer were gathered for which no aetiological agent could be identified. Large-scale molecular RNA virus screening, based on host nucleic acid depletion, sequence-independent amplification and sequencing of partially purified viral RNA, revealed the presence of novel astroviruses, CcAstV-1 and CcAstV-2, in two of ten diarrhoea samples. Whether these viruses were responsible for causing diarrhoea remains to be determined. Phylogenetic analyses on amplified sequences showed that these viruses were most closely related to each other, were a novel species in the genus Mamastrovirus and may represent two different serotypes.

Genetic characterization of astroviruses detected in guinea fowl (Numida meleagris) reveals a distinct genotype and suggests cross-species transmission between turkey and guinea fowl

“…In mammals, astroviruses adapted to the new hosts and there is no record of documented interspecies transmission in recent times [17,18]. The increasing number of novel distinct astroviruses described in mammalian species in recent years seems to confirm this hypothesis [19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26].…”

Full genome analysis of bovine astrovirus from fecal samples of cattle in Japan: identification of possible interspecies transmission of bovine astrovirus

“…BoAstV/JPN/ Hokkaido12- 25/2009 (Hokka12-25), which was isolated from a calf with diarrhea, was clearly distant from the other BoAstV strains and clustered together with porcine astrovirus (PoAstV) type 5 [17] strains in all trees. Nine of 15 Japanese BoAstVs formed a cluster together with Chinese BoAstVs [18], PoAstV type 2 [19] strains in all trees, and deer astroviruses [19] in the ORF2 tree, and this cluster has tentatively been named lineage 1. Three of 15 BoAstVs clustered with an American BoAstV strain isolated from young dairy cattle with respiratory disease, BSRI-1 [20], in all trees, and this cluster has tentatively been named lineage 2.…”

The Broad Host Range and Genetic Diversity of Mammalian and Avian Astroviruses

“…Two serotypes were previously recognized, BoAstV-1 and BoAstV-2 [72], however based on phylogenetic analysis there are multiple lineages of BoAstV strains circulating in farmed bovine populations, and the close clustering of bovine, porcine, and ovine strains in multiple lineages reflects the common interspecies transmission events that occur between farmed animals (Figure 1a,b). Phylogenetic analysis also reveals that bovine-like astrovirus strains have been isolated from numerous wild species including water buffalo, yak, and European roe deer (CcAstV-1 and CcAstV-2) suffering from gastroenteritis [73]. Unclassified astroviruses from dromedary camels (DcAstV) [27] also cluster in a lineage comprised of porcine and bovine strains, further suggesting multiple interspecies transmission events (Figure 1a).…”