Identification and molecular characterisation of canine astrovirus from Gujarat, India

A total of 107 faecal samples were collected from 52 clinically healthy and 55 diseased dogs, which were showing symptoms like diarrhoea and vomiting from different districts of Gujarat, India. After RNA isolation samples were subjected to qPCR using virus-specific primers. Overall, 4.67% (05/107) prevalence of canine astrovirus (CaAstV) was observed among the studied population. Out of them, 01 (0.93%) sample was from clinically healthy animals and 04/ 05 positive samples were obtained from puppies of < 3 months of age. Non-descript breeds had a higher prevalence than pure-breed dogs. All five positive samples of the present study were co-infected with canine parvovirus (CPV). Three samples passed the quality parameters of sequencing and were analysed at the molecular level using a large fragment of the ORF2 region of the genome which encodes capsid protein of CaAstV. These sequences formed clad with other CaAstV isolates from different parts of the world, especially from India and China, and differed from the other mammalian astrovirus isolates.