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Abstract
Feline astrovirus (FeAstV) which belonged to the genus Mamastrovirus was first identified in the feces of kittens with diarrhea in the USA in 1981 by electron microscopy, and had been reported in many countries. Presently, there are no any reports of the circulation of FeAstV in mainland China. We performed this study to investigate the apparent prevalence and genetic variability of FeAstV infected in cats in mainland China for the first time. We tested fecal samples of 105 cats with diarrhea and 92 asymptomatic cats in five cities in northeast China by RT-PCR targeting RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) gene of FeAstV, and analyzed sequences variability and phylogenetic evolution based on the complete capsid gene of FeAstV strains obtained from positive samples. The overall prevalence of FeAstV was 23.4% (46/197) of which 38 were tested in cats with diarrhea (36.2%, 38/105) and 8 were in asymptomatic cats (8.7%, 8/92). Mixed infection with other enteroviruses including feline parvovirus (FPV), feline bocavirus (FBoV) and feline kobuvirus (FeKoV) was found in 38 FeAstV-positive samples. Phylogenetic analysis based on the complete capsid gene revealed all FeAstV strains were divided into two different groups with a 0.454±0.016 of mean amino acid genetic distance between two groups, suggesting that FeAstVs should be classified into two different genotype species. This study provided the first molecular evidence that FeAstV with considerable genetic diversity was circulating in northeast China, and analyzed genetic variability and classification of FeAstVs for the first time.
Highlights
Astroviruses (AstVs), which are taxonomically classified within the family Astroviridae, are small, non-enveloped, spherical virus of about 28–30 nm in diameter [1]
We examined a total of 197 fecal samples collected from five different cities in northeast China of which 46 (23.4%) were tested to be positive for Feline astrovirus (FeAstV) (Table 1)
The apparent prevalence of FeAstV tested in cats with and without diarrhea was 36.2% (38/105) and 8.7% (8/92), respectively, and the apparent prevalence of FeAstV infection in cats with diarrhea was significantly higher than that in asymptomatic cats (Chi Square test, χ2 = 20.711, p
Summary
Astroviruses (AstVs), which are taxonomically classified within the family Astroviridae, are small, non-enveloped, spherical virus of about 28–30 nm in diameter [1]. AstV has a positive single-stranded RNA genome of about 6.8–7.3 kb in length that contains three overlapping open reading frames (ORFs), designated ORF1a, ORF1b and ORF2, and a poly A tail.
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