Complete genome sequences of epizootic hemorrhagic disease virus serotypes 5 and 6 isolated in Japan.

Here, we report the complete genome sequences of epizootic hemorrhagic disease (EHD) virus serotypes 5 (EHDV-5) and 6 (EHDV-6) isolated in the Yaeyama Islands of Okinawa Prefecture, Japan. The EHDV-5 strain, ON-11/E/16, which was isolated in 2016, is, to our knowledge, the second EHDV-5 strain to be isolated after the first was isolated in Australia in 1977. In each of the genome segments, ON-11/E/16 was most closely related to EHDV strains of different serotypes isolated in Australia and Japan. Our results support the idea that various serotypes of EHDV have been circulating while causing reassortment in the Asia-Pacific region. In all genome segments, the EHDV-6 strain, ON-3/E/14, which was isolated in 2014, was highly similar to EHDV-6 strain HG-1/E/15, which was detected in affected cattle during the EHD epidemic in Hyogo prefecture in 2015. Therefore, these two EHDV-6 strains, ON-3/E/14 and HG-1/E/15, may have the same origin. However, it is unclear whether EHDV-6 was transmitted directly between the locations where those strains were isolated/detected (approx. 1,500 km apart) or whether EHDV-6 strains of the same origin entered each location at different times. In addition, we cannot rule out the possibility that EHDV-6 infection has spread unnoticed through asymptomatic cattle in other areas of Japan. Therefore, further investigation into EHDV infection in cattle is necessary for a more detailed understanding of the ecology of EHDV in Japan.