Detection and characterization of canine corona virus infection: an enteric approach

Abstract

Canine corona virus (CCoV) infection is a new emerging disease affecting dogs. It results in low mortality but considerable morbidity in dogs with intermediate to moderate enteritis. In India, serological research on dogs has revealed the existence of antibodies, demonstrating the prevalence of the condition among canines. The aim of the present study was to investigate the prevalence of CCoV infection in dogs suffering from gastroenteritis, and genetic analysis of circulating virus strains. The current study was designed to test fecal samples of dogs with gastroenteritis suspected for the presence of CCoV. Using primers based on the M-gene, PCR was used to amplify the RNA (c-DNA) templates retrieved from the fecal samples. RT-PCR based detection of CCoV showed positivity of 30% (15/50). The phylogentic analysis revealed that two samples had nt/aa identity levels of 100%/100% to the CCoV isolate from China and 99.19/100% of nt/aa identity with that from Korea. One of the samples showed divergence and revealed 95.63%/94.37% nt/aa identity with the China isolate and 95.15%/97.06% nt/aa identity with Indian isolates. The recombination analysis indicated a mutation rate in one of the samples. In brief, the present study illustrates the circulation of canine corona virus in dogs suffering from gastroenteritis. The present findings emphasize the need for vaccination of dogs for prevention, as a high prevalence of viral gastroenteritis was found in these dogs.