First detection and phylogenetic analysis of porcine circovirus 3 in female donkeys with reproductive disorders

Tongtong Wang,Yonghui Wang,Guiqin Liu,Mengyuan Liu,Ruihong Guo,Wenqiang Liu,Li Chen,Changfa Wang,Sidang Liu,Wenqiong Chai,Liangliang Li,Qiankun Zheng,Wen-Ping Guo,Zetong Huang,Yuting Dong

doi:10.1186/s12917-021-03013-6

Abstract

BackgroundPCV3 is a pathogen associated with porcine dermatitis and nephropathy syndrome (PDNS)-like clinical signs, reproductive failure, and cardiac and multiorgan inflammation, which was newly identified in 2016 in sows in USA. Recently, PCV3 has also been identified from several non-porcine species like (cattle, dog, wild boar, deer, mice and ticks). However, PCV3 infection in donkey is not well established. Since 2019, 300 blood samples were collected from female donkey, which was characterized by abortion and sterility, in Liaocheng city of China.ResultsIn the present study, an investigation of PCV3 in donkey blood samples was undertaken employing by real time PCR. Positive rates of PCV3 in donkeys reach to 21.0 %. In addition, one full-length PCV3 genome sequence was obtained, and it had a highest identity with porcine circovirus 3 PCV3/CN/Nanjing2017 strain and is clustered to PCV3a genotype based on ORF2 sequences.ConclusionsThis is the first report of detection of PCV3 from female donkeys presenting reproductive failure in large-scale donkey farms, China. In addition, the PCV3 strain identified in this study shared the closest relationship with those from porcine, suggesting that PCV3 may be transmitted from pigs to donkeys. Totally, PCV3 infection in donkey should be concerned although the association between it and reproductive failure are not better understood.

Highlights

Porcine circovirus 3 (PCV3) is a pathogen associated with porcine dermatitis and nephropathy syndrome (PDNS)-like clinical signs, reproductive failure, and cardiac and multiorgan inflammation, which was newly identified in 2016 in sows in USA
PCV3 detection A total of 300 blood samples from 5 different donkey farms were tested for PCV3 using real time PCR
These results demonstrated that 21 % (63/300) of the blood samples were PCV3 positive

Summary

Introduction

PCV3 is a pathogen associated with porcine dermatitis and nephropathy syndrome (PDNS)-like clinical signs, reproductive failure, and cardiac and multiorgan inflammation, which was newly identified in 2016 in sows in USA. PCV3 has been identified from several non-porcine species like (cattle, dog, wild boar, deer, mice and ticks). PCV3 has been found in several species, such as dogs, cattle, mice, ticks, wild boar, deer, even baboons infected by trans-species transmission by transplantation of a heart from a PCV3-positive donor pig [3,4,5,6]. 300 blood samples from female donkeys with reproductive failure from Liaocheng city, China, were tested by real time PCR for PCV3 as described previously [13]. Donkeys may serve as reservoirs for the virus, adding to the complex and poorly understood infection dynamics between pigs and other species

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Results

Discussion

Conclusion