Laboratory of Veterinary Infectious Disease, College of Veterinary of Medicine, Jeonbuk National University, Iksan 54596, Republic of Korea.
Viruses. 2023 Jun 30;15(7):1488. doi: 10.3390/v15071488.
Astroviruses (AstVs) have been detected in a wide range of animal species, including mammals and birds. Recently, a novel AstV associated with neurological symptoms has been detected in the brains of some mammals. Raccoon dog AstV has been reported recently in China. However, there have been no reports in South Korea. Therefore, the present study aimed to detect and genetically characterize AstVs in the intestine and brain tissues of 133 wild raccoon dogs collected in Korea between 2017 and 2019. Of the seven raccoon dogs, AstVs were detected in six intestinal tissues and four brain tissues. Analysis of the capsid protein amino acid sequences of raccoon dog AstVs detected in Korea revealed a high similarity to canine AstVs, suggesting possible interspecies transmission between raccoon dogs and dogs. Phylogenetic and capsid protein amino acid sequence analysis of raccoon dog AstVs detected in the brain the 17-148B strain belonging to the HMO clade and exhibiting conserved sequences found in neurotropic AstVs (NT-AstVs), indicating their potential as NT-AstVs. However, the pathogenicity and transmission routes of the raccoon dog AstV detected in Korea have not yet been elucidated, so further research and continued surveillance for AstV in wild raccoon dogs are needed.
星状病毒（AstVs）已在包括哺乳动物和鸟类在内的多种动物物种中被检测到。最近，一种与神经系统症状相关的新型 AstV 在一些哺乳动物的大脑中被检测到。最近在中国报道了浣熊犬星状病毒。然而，在韩国尚未有报道。因此，本研究旨在检测和分析 2017 年至 2019 年间在韩国采集的 133 只野生浣熊犬的肠道和脑组织中是否存在 AstV。在 7 只浣熊犬中，有 6 只肠道组织和 4 只脑组织中检测到 AstVs。对韩国检测到的浣熊犬 AstV 衣壳蛋白氨基酸序列的分析表明，与犬科 AstVs 具有高度相似性，提示浣熊犬与犬之间可能存在种间传播。对韩国检测到的在大脑中存在的浣熊犬 AstV 的系统发育和衣壳蛋白氨基酸序列分析表明，该病毒属于 HMO 分支，且具有神经嗜性 AstV（NT-AstV）中保守的序列，表明其可能为 NT-AstV。然而，韩国检测到的浣熊犬 AstV 的致病性和传播途径尚未阐明，因此需要对其进行进一步研究并对野生浣熊犬进行持续监测。
