Molecular epidemiology of duck hepatitis a virus types 1 and 3 in China, 2010-2015

Abstract

Duck hepatitis A virus (DHAV) is the most common aetiologic agent of duck virus hepatitis (DVH), causing substantial economic losses in the duck industry worldwide. In China, officially approved DHAV-1 live-attenuated vaccines have been used widely to vaccinate breeder ducks since 2013. However, following the reports of DVH outbreaks, it has become necessary to assess the epidemiological situation of this virus in China. We conducted molecular epidemiological analyses of 32 DHAV field isolates while analysing the samples from ducks suspected of having hepatitis collected from commercial duck farms in China between May 2010 and December 2015. Considerable changes were observed in the epidemiology of DHAV-1 and DHAV-3 in China over time. A higher number of DHAV-1 strains were isolated during 2010-2012, coinciding with the widespread use of officially approved DHAV-1 live vaccine strains beginning in 2013. In contrast, a higher rate of DHAV-3 causing DHAV infections was observed between 2013 and 2015. Phylogenetic analyses based on the full-length VP1 gene were performed on these field isolates and using reference strains available in GenBank. DHAV-1 field isolates were evaluated in two groups: one group closely related to prototype strains and circulating in China between 2010 and 2012 and another group exhibiting genetic and serological differences from prototype strains. All DHAV-3 strains isolated in this study were grouped as monophyletic, which has become the predominant viral type, particularly in Shandong and Sichuan provinces, since 2013. In conclusion, these data provide updated information on the genetic and serological diversity of DHAV-1 and DHAV-3, and our findings may serve as a foundation for the prevention of, and vaccine development for, DHAV in China.

Comparative Pathogenicity of Duck Hepatitis A Virus-1 Isolates in Experimentally Infected Pekin and Muscovy Ducklings

“…Recently, genetic analysis and molecular characterization of Egyptian DHAV-1 isolates have been described based on VP1 gene sequencing (16). The analyses showed that Egyptian DHAV-1 isolates have been clustered into genetic group 4 with virulent Chinese strains (17). Lately, the Egyptian DHAV-1 isolates were classified into three subgroups (A, B, and C) under genetic group 4 based on their geographical distribution (18).…”

Biochemical characterization of recombinant Avihepatovirus 3C protease and its localization

“…In DHAV infection, it has been reported that activation of the toll-like receptor 7 (TLR7) pathway is involved in the immune response and viral clearance [34]. To date, some epidemiological, pathogenic and immunological mechanisms of DHAV have been reported [35][36][37]. It is likely that different picornaviruses adopt various strategies to interfere with cellular resources.…”

Transcriptomic Characterization of a Chicken Embryo Model Infected With Duck Hepatitis A Virus Type 1

“…Duck hepatitis A virus type 1 (DHAV-1), a member of the genus Avihepatovirus with characteristics of the family Picornaviridae ( 1 – 8 ), was first reported in Long Island, New York in 1945. DHAV-1 poses a serious threat to the duck industry worldwide ( 9 , 10 ). There was recently an outbreak of DHAV-1 infection in Japan, and the nucleotide sequences of outbreak PCR products exhibited 96% identity with the HB02 strain of DHAV-1, which was isolated in China ( 11 ).…”