The United Graduate School of Veterinary Sciences, Gifu University, 1-1 Yanagido, Gifu 501-1193, Japan.
Vet Microbiol. 2010 Dec 15;146(3-4):253-9. doi: 10.1016/j.vetmic.2010.05.019. Epub 2010 May 12.
Group A rotaviruses infect and cause diarrhea in humans and a wide range of mammals. Previous studies have suggested that some strains can cross the species barrier to infect humans (Martella et al., 2010). However, there are few reports on infection and characterization of rotaviruses in wild animals. To estimate what types of rotaviruses infect wild animals, we investigated infection of rotaviruses in wild animals living in urban areas in Japan between 2003 and 2008. Of 145 fecal specimens obtained, we detected rotaviruses in one sample from a Japanese raccoon dog (Nyctereutes procyonoides) (RAC-DG5) and in one sample from a masked palm civet (Paguma larvata) (MP-CIVET66) by RT-semi-nested PCR. Sequence analyses of the VP4 and VP7 genes of RAC-DG5 and MP-CIVET66 strains revealed that these strains belong to G3bP[9] genotype. Furthermore, phylogenetic analyses showed that RAC-DG5 and MP-CIVET66 strains were closely related to human and feline rotaviruses, suggesting interspecies transmission from humans or cats. To our knowledge, this is the first report on the detection and characterization of rotaviruses in a Japanese raccoon dog and masked palm civet. These findings show that wild animals constitute a potential zoonotic risk of rotaviruses.
A 组轮状病毒感染并导致人类和多种哺乳动物腹泻。先前的研究表明，一些毒株可以跨越物种屏障感染人类（Martella 等人，2010 年）。然而，关于野生动物中轮状病毒的感染和特征的报道很少。为了估计哪些类型的轮状病毒感染野生动物，我们调查了 2003 年至 2008 年间在日本城市地区生活的野生动物中的轮状病毒感染情况。从获得的 145 份粪便标本中，我们通过 RT-半巢式 PCR 在一只日本獾（Nyctereutes procyonoides）（RAC-DG5）和一只蒙面棕榈狸（Paguma larvata）（MP-CIVET66）的样本中检测到了轮状病毒。对 RAC-DG5 和 MP-CIVET66 株的 VP4 和 VP7 基因的序列分析表明，这些株属于 G3bP[9]基因型。此外，系统进化分析表明，RAC-DG5 和 MP-CIVET66 株与人类和猫科动物的轮状病毒密切相关，提示来自人类或猫的种间传播。据我们所知，这是首次在日本獾和蒙面棕榈狸中检测到并描述轮状病毒。这些发现表明，野生动物构成了轮状病毒的潜在人畜共患病风险。
