Prevalence of Group A Rotaviruses (RVA) in Pig Population of North East India

Group A rotaviruses (RVA) have been recognised as an important cause of piglet diarrhoea which is a major threat causing serious economic losses in swine industry of north east India. Apart from RVA, there are many other agents which are directly or indirectly associated with piglet diarrhoea. Thus accurate and timely diagnosis is very much essential to establish the etiology of piglet diarrhoea. In the present study, RVA was detected in faecal samples of diarrhoeic pigs using RNA-PAGE and RT-PCR, collected from different states of Northeast India. Overall, of 601 faecal samples collected, 134(22.29%) samples were found to be positive for presence of RVA by RNA-PAGE. In RT-PCR, RVA was detected by amplification of VP4 and VP7 genes of RV, where 178 (29.61%) samples were found positive. Among the states, Assam and Tripura recorded highest prevalence of RV among pig population in comparison to other states of NER.