Detection by RT-PCR and genetic characterization of canine distemper virus from vaccinated and non-vaccionated dogs in Argentina

GALLO CALDERON, MARINA; REMORINI, PATRICIA; PERIOLO, OSVALDO; IGLESIAS, MARCELA; MATTION, NORA; LA TORRE, JOSÉ L.

CANADIAN JOURNAL OF MICROBIOLOGY

Año: 2007 vol. 125 p. 341 - 349

0008-4166

RT-PCR was used to detect canine distemper virus (CDV) RNA in clotted blood from Argentine domestic dogs. The NP gene was detected in 73 out of 99 blood samples analyzed. The deduced amino acid sequence of these gene fragments showed 100% identity with the sequence of other wild-type and vaccine strains. A fragment of the hemagglutinin gene was amplified from 24 (32,9%) of the NP-RNA-positive clinical specimens. These H fragments were further analyzed by restriction fragment lengthpolymorphism (RFLP) and sequencing. A single NdeI site was detected in all 24 will-type strains but was absent in the vaccine strains. Phylogenetic analysis of the partial hemagglutinin amino acid sequences showed close clustering for local strains, clearly distinct from vaccine strains and other wild-type foreign CDV strains. One of the local strains, Arg 23, branched out of the root of the Argentine clade, close to the European strains, suggesting that two different pathogenic CDV genotypes are currently circulating in Argentina, one of them clearly predominant.