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Journal of Clinical Microbiology, October 2008, p. 3346-3354, Vol. 46, No. 10
0095-1137/08/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JCM.00995-08
Copyright © 2008, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Molecular Characterization of Equine Rotavirus in Ireland

Department of Biological Sciences, Cork Institute of Technology, Rossa Avenue, Bishopstown, Cork, Ireland,¹ Irish Equine Centre, Johnstown, Naas, County Kildare, Ireland,² Department of Animal Health and Wellbeing, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of Bari, S.p. per Casamassima Km 3, 70010 Valenzano, Bari, Italy³

Received 23 May 2008/ Returned for modification 6 July 2008/ Accepted 7 August 2008

Group A rotaviruses are important causative agents of severe, acute dehydrating diarrhea in foals. A total of 86 rotavirus-positive fecal samples, collected from diarrheic foals from 11 counties in three of the four provinces of Ireland, were obtained from the Irish Equine Centre in Kildare during a 7-year (1999 to 2005) passive surveillance study and were characterized molecularly to establish the VP7 (G type) and VP4 (P type) antigenic specificities. Fifty-eight samples (67.5%) were found to contain G3 viruses, while in 26 samples (30.2%) the rotaviruses were typed as G14 and in 2 samples (2.3%) there was a mixed infection, G3 plus G14. All samples except for two, which were untypeable, were characterized as P[12]. Fifty-eight percent of the samples were obtained from County Kildare, the center of the Irish horse industry, where an apparent shift from G3P[12] to G14P[12] was observed in 2003. By sequence analysis of the VP7 protein, the G3 Irish strains were shown to resemble viruses of the G3A subtype (H2-like) (97.1 to 100% amino acid [aa] identity), while the G14 Irish strains displayed 93.9 to 97.1% aa identity to other G14 viruses. In the VP8* fragment of the VP4 protein, the P[12] Irish viruses displayed high conservation (92.3 to 100% aa) with other equine P[12] viruses. Worldwide, G3P[12] and G14P[12] are the most prevalent equine rotavirus strains, and G3P[12] vaccines have been developed for prevention of rotavirus-associated diarrhea in foals. Investigations of the VP7/VP4 diversity of the circulating equine viruses and the dynamics of strain replacement are important for better assessing the efficacies of the vaccines.

Published ahead of print on 20 August 2008.