Detection of porcine rotavirus infection in the north east India

This study was conducted to detect the porcine rotavirus infection in piglet diarrhoea from Manipur and Mizoram. A total 146 faecal samples were collected from piglets suspected to have rotavirus infection from Manipur and Mizoram. All faecal samples were analysed by Latex agglutination test (LAT), ssRNA-PAGE and RT-PCR. Of the146 faecal samples, 72 samples (49.32%) were found to be positive for rotavirus by LAT, 65 samples (44.52%) as positive by RT-PCR targeting the VP7 gene of porcine group A rotavirus whereas RNA electropherotyping revealed all the 11 genome segments only in 39 samples out of which one each were of group B and group C rotaviruses. Remaining 37 positive samples (25.34%) belong to group A rotaviruses. Besides group A rotaviruses, groups B and C rotaviruses have been detected as the cause of piglet diarrhoea. To the authors’ knowledge, this is the first report of detection of group B rotaviruses in India.