Vet World Vol.17 September-2024 Article - 5
Research Article
Veterinary World, 17(9): 1990-1999
https://doi.org/10.14202/vetworld.2024.1990-1999
Molecular genotyping and subgenotyping of duck circovirus at duck farms in Thailand
2. Department of Pathology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Kasetsart University, Kamphaeng Saen, Nakhon Pathom, Thailand.
3. Kamphaeng Saen Veterinary Diagnostic Center, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Kasetsart University, Kamphaeng Saen, Nakhon Pathom, Thailand.
Background and Aim: Ducks worldwide are infected with duck circovirus (DuCV), which causes feather abnormality, emaciation, and poor growth performance. DuCV is similar to other circoviruses that induce immunosuppression due to the occurrence of the bursae of Fabricius (BF) and spleen atrophies. In Thailand, retarded ducks with feather losses were submitted for disease investigation. The ducks presented low body weight gain, had small BF and spleens, and were consistent with duck-infected DuCV. Our study investigated the possibility of DuCV infection in duck flocks in Thailand. We also analyzed the genetic characteristics of the virus.
Materials and Methods: BF and spleen samples were collected from affected meat and layer ducks from six farms thought to have been infected with DuCV. These tissues were then subjected to histopathological examination and molecular identification using conventional polymerase chain reaction and nucleotide sequencing. To identify DuCV, phylogenetic trees were generated using MEGA version X software. Samples of tissues or swabs were collected to determine whether coinfections with bacteria and viruses existed.
Results: Phylogenetic analysis using the entire genome (1995–1996 bp) and cap gene (762 bp) revealed that the DuCV isolates circulating in Thailand belonged to DuCV genotype I, which was further subdivided into two sub-genotypes: sub-genotype I b and an unclassified sub-genotype based on reference sub-genotypes. Thai isolates have variations in 10 amino acid residues in the capsid protein. Ducks infected with Thai DuCV were also coinfected with Riemerella anatipestifer, Escherichia coli, Pasteurella multocida, duck viral enteritis, and duck Tembusu virus, which is consistent with previous DuCV infection studies.
Conclusion: Six DuCVs from ducks who were previously found to have feather loss, were underweight, had growth retardation, and had poor body condition were identified in this study as belonging to genotype Ⅰ and constituting at least two sub-genotypes. Due to the immunosuppressive effects of DuCV, coinfection of bacterial and viral pathogens was typically observed in Thai DuCV-infected ducks.
Keywords: duck, duck circovirus, genetic characterization, immunosuppression, phylogenetic tree.
How to cite this article: Kulprasertsri S, Songserm T, Phatthanakunanan S, Saengnual P, Sinwat N, Khamtae R, and Lertwatcharasarakul P (2024) Molecular genotyping and subgenotyping of duck circovirus at duck farms in Thailand. Veterinary World, 17(9): 1990-1999.
Received: 2024-05-01 Accepted: 2024-08-02 Published online: 2024-09-08
Corresponding author: E-mail:
DOI: 10.14202/vetworld.2024.1990-1999
Copyright: Kulprasertsri, et al. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/ by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http:// creativecommons.org/ publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.
