Cross-sectional study and genotyping of rotavirus-A infections in ruminants in Kuwait

Nadra-Elwgoud M I Abdou,Ashraf A Saad,Michael D Bowen,Qais A H Majeed,Slavica Mijatovic-Rustempasic,Attia Samy

doi:10.1186/s12917-021-02944-4

Abstract

BackgroundGroup A rotaviruses (RVA) are zoonotic pathogens responsible for acute enteritis in human and neonatal ruminants. This research aimed to determine the prevalence of RVA in ruminants (cattle, sheep, and goats) and investigate the circulating RVA genotypes in these animals in Kuwait. We conducted a cross-sectional study to detect RVA in ruminants, using an immunochromatography test (IC), direct sandwich ELISA test, and real-time RT-PCR (RT-qPCR) assay using fecal samples.ResultsA total of 400 cattle, 334 sheep, and 222 goats were examined. The prevalence of RVA was 5.3, 1.2, and 2.3%, respectively, using IC. The ELISA test detected RVA from 4.3% of cattle, 0.9% of sheep, and 1.8% of goats. There was a significant association between the occurrence of diarrhea and the presence of RVA in bovine fecal samples (p-value = 0.0022), while no statistical association between diarrhea and the presence of RVA in fecal samples of sheep and goats was observed (p-value = 0.7250; p-value = 0.4499, respectively). Twenty-three of the IC-positive samples (17 from cattle, two from sheep, and four from goats) were tested using a RT-qPCR RVA detection assay targeting the NSP3 gene. The results showed that 21 of 23 IC-positive samples tested positive by RT-qPCR. Detection of RVA genotypes revealed that G10P[11] was the predominant strain in cattle (58.8%), followed by G8P[1] (11.7%). One sheep sample was genotyped as G8P[1]. In addition, G6P[1] and G6P[14] were detected in goat samples.ConclusionThe present study revealed that the IC was more sensitive in detecting RVA antigen in fecal samples than the ELISA test. A higher occurrence of RVA infection was observed in cattle than in sheep and goats. This study suggests that RVA might be a risk factor of diarrhea in bovine calves less than 2 weeks old. This research also demonstrates the circulation of RVA in sheep and goat populations in Kuwait. Finally, the G10P[11] RVA genotype was the most prevalent genotype identified from cattle samples.

Highlights

Group A rotaviruses (RVA) are zoonotic pathogens responsible for acute enteritis in human and neonatal ruminants
Rotavirus A (RVA) detection by immunochromatography test (IC), Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) and PCR Using IC, RVA was detected in 21 (5.3%) of cattle, 4 (1.2%) of sheep, and 5 (2.3%) of goats
Three samples were negative using the ELISA. This suggests that, in cattle samples, the IC was more sensitive in the detection of RVA than the ELISA test

Summary

Introduction

Group A rotaviruses (RVA) are zoonotic pathogens responsible for acute enteritis in human and neonatal ruminants. Rotavirus A (RVA) is the predominant viral gastroenteritis pathogen that infects both humans and animals [1]. It is endemic worldwide and results in an estimated 128,500 deaths and 258,173,300 diarrheal episodes among children under the age of 5 yearly [2]. RVA is the most critical species identified from ruminant diarrhea cases [3, 4] It is usually reported in neonatal ruminant animals about 1–2 weeks of age. This is because milk feeding can provide a better survival environment for RVA across a broad spectrum of gastrointestinal pH levels and facilitate viral infection of the epithelial cells lining of the intestine. Milk feeding could account for the higher susceptibility of non-weaned neonate animals to diarrhea [5]

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