Four hundreds and ninety sheep sera from seven breeds raised at eight counties and one city of Aksu region in Xinjiang were tested by ELISA for the presence of antibodies against hepatitis E virus (HEV), and the positive rate differences were compared based on administrative areas, breeds and age by Chi-square test. The result showed that the general positive rate was 28.98% (142/490), the positive rate were 35.44% (28/79), 29.67% (27/91), 20% (4/20), 40% (12/30), 32.5% (26/80), 38% (19/50), 22.5% (9/40), 8% (4/50) and 26% (13/50) respectively in eight counties and one city, there was a significant difference between Xayar and other administrative areas (P<0.01); there was also a significant difference among age ranges (P<0.01), being 38.75% (31/80) over 2 years old, 15.45% (17/110) below 1 year old; The seroprevalence was still related to breeds, i. e. there was a significant difference between Mongolia sheep and other breeds (P<0.01). From these data, it is confirmed that there is a possibility of previous and potential infection of sheep HEV in Aksu region of Xinjiang Autonomous.
Animals ; Antibodies, Viral ; blood ; China ; epidemiology ; Hepatitis E ; epidemiology ; transmission ; veterinary ; virology ; Hepatitis E virus ; physiology ; Seroepidemiologic Studies ; Sheep ; blood ; virology ; Sheep Diseases ; epidemiology ; transmission ; virology

BACKGROUNDTo investigate the prevalence of anti-HEV among swine, sheep and chickens.

METHODSTotally 498 sera of swine, sheep and chickens collected from Xingjiang, Guangxi, Guangdong, Beijing and Hebei were detected for the anti-HEV by an enzyme linked immunoassay.

RESULTSThe anti-HEV positive rate of swine was 67.53%(104/154), in pigs between 4-5 months of age the rate was 100.00%(9/9) from Xingjiang. The rate in pigs under 3 months of age from Guangxi was 36.00%(9/25) and in pigs older than six months of age was 71.67% (86/120), respectively. The 108 sera of sheep collected from Xingjiang were all negative. The positive rate of chickens was only 1.27% (3/236). The anti-HEV prevalence rates of chickens from Luoding, Shenzhen, Liuzhou, Beijing and Hebei were 4.00%, 1.49%, 1.49%, 0, 0 respectively.

CONCLUSIONHEV infection does exist among swine and chickens. The anti-HEV prevalence of swine was the highest among domestic animals. The role of swine and chickens in transmission of HEV needs to be further studied.

Animals ; Antibodies, Viral ; Chickens ; China ; epidemiology ; Hepatitis Antibodies ; blood ; Hepatitis E ; epidemiology ; veterinary ; Hepatitis E virus ; immunology ; Poultry Diseases ; epidemiology ; virology ; Prevalence ; Sheep ; Sheep Diseases ; epidemiology ; virology ; Swine ; Swine Diseases ; epidemiology ; virology

This study describes the expression of heat shock protein70 (HSP70) and alpha-basic-crystallin (alpha-BC) and their association with apoptosis and some related adaptor proteins in the pathogenesis of foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV)-induced myocarditis in lambs. HSP70 was generally overexpressed in the myocardial tissues and inflammatory cells of FMDV-induced myocarditis with differential accumulation and localization in same hearts when compared to non-foot-and-mouth disease control hearts. alpha-BC immunolabeling showed coarse aggregations in the Z line of the cardiomyocytes in FMDV-infected hearts in contrast to control hearts. Overall, the results of this study show that the anti-apoptotic proteins, HSP70 and alpha-BC, were overexpressed with increased apoptosis in FMDV-infected heart tissues. Both proteins failed to protect the cardiomyocytes from apoptosis as defense mechanisms to the FMDV during the infection, suggesting that the virus is able to increase apoptosis via both downregulation and/or upregulation of these anti-apoptotic proteins.
Animals ; Apoptosis Regulatory Proteins/metabolism ; Foot-and-Mouth Disease/*complications/*virology ; Foot-and-Mouth Disease Virus/*classification ; Gene Expression ; HSP70 Heat-Shock Proteins/*metabolism ; Myocarditis/complications/pathology/*veterinary/virology ; Myocardium/pathology ; Sheep ; Sheep Diseases/*virology ; Turkey ; alpha-Crystallin B Chain/*metabolism

Peste des petits ruminants (PPR) diagnosis from suspected samples from sheep and goats was carried out. Buffy coat, tissues, and oculo-nasal swabs were analyzed using nucleoprotein (NP3/NP4) and fusion protein (F1/F2) gene primers, respectively. Analysis of the sample types and primer set revealed that buffy coat are the best type of samples for PPR diagnosis and the use of two set of primers will increase the number of positives.
Animals ; DNA Primers/analysis ; Eye/virology ; Goat Diseases/blood/*diagnosis/epidemiology/virology ; Goats ; Hair/virology ; Nose/virology ; Nucleoproteins/analysis ; Peste-des-Petits-Ruminants/blood/*diagnosis/epidemiology/virology ; Peste-des-petits-ruminants virus/genetics/*isolation & purification ; Pigmentation ; RNA, Viral/genetics/*isolation & purification ; Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction/*methods/standards/veterinary ; Sheep ; Sheep Diseases/blood/*diagnosis/epidemiology/virology ; Uganda/epidemiology

Ovine pulmonary adenomatosis (OPA) is a naturally occurring contagious lung tumor of sheep which was caused by an exogenous retrovirus of sheep, jaagsiekte retrovirus (JSRV). Although no specific circulating antibodies against the virus coud be detected in infected sheep, exogenous JSRV proviral DNA sequences (exJSRV) and JSRV RNA transcripts could be detected in lung tumors, lymphoreticular system and peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) from sheep affected by OPA. The sheep genome carried 15 to 20 copies of endogenous retrovirus loci (enJSRV) that were similar to JSRV in structural genes but the divergene in U3. Therefore, primers specific for the U3 sequences of exJSRV were designed for the specific PCR and nested PCR (n-PCR). Sensitivity between specific PCR assay and n-PCR assay was compared by using serial dilutions of positive plasmid pJSRV-LTR in a background of 700ng sheep genome DNA. Sensitivity of n-PCR was ten-fold higher than specific PCR. The n-PCR was only available in blood test for detection of JSRV infected sheep and might be useful in epidemiological studies and disease control of OPA.
Animals ; Base Sequence ; Clinical Laboratory Techniques ; DNA, Viral ; analysis ; Endogenous Retroviruses ; genetics ; Jaagsiekte sheep retrovirus ; genetics ; Lung Neoplasms ; virology ; Molecular Sequence Data ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Pulmonary Adenomatosis, Ovine ; virology ; Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Sequence Analysis, DNA ; Sheep ; Sheep Diseases ; virology ; Virus Cultivation

This study aims to construct a eukaryotic expression system for envelope gene of Jaagsiekte sheep retrovirus, observes its localization in 293T cells, and investigates the potential in inducing malignant transformation of NIH3T3 cells. By RT-PCR, the full-length cDNA of envelope gene of Jaagsiekte sheep retrovirus (exJSRV-env) was amplified from the extract of naturally infected sheep lung. The clone of target gene was sub-cloned into eukaryotic expression system pEGFP-C1, and validated by PCR, restriction endonuclease, and sequencing. Bioinformatic analysis concerning biological function and cellular localiza tion of exJSRV-env was also performed. The recombinant clone of exJSRV-env was transfected into 293T cells and NIH3T3 cells by Lipofectamine LTX. The expression and celluar localization in 293T cells were validated by confocal microscopy. Soft agar colony formation assay was employed to test the anchorage-independent growth of NIH3T3. DNA sequencing and restriction enzyme digestion with Kpn I and Hind III indicated the correct construction of the recombinant plasmid, which was named pEGFP-C1/exJSRV-env. Amino acid sequence alignment of exJSRV-env with reference sequences found 85%-100% homogeneity. A YRNM motif was discovered at the cytoplasmic tail of envelope gene, which is exclusively found in exogenous viruses. Phylogenetic tree analysis showed that our clone of exJSRV-env clustered closely with pathogenic exogenous Jaagsiekte sheep retroviruses. Fluorescence microscopy indicated typical membrane localization of exJSRV-env protein. NIH3T3 cells transfected with exJSRV-env lost contact inhibition, and acquired colony forming ability in soft agar. This study indicated that envelope protein of Jaagsiekte sheep retrovirus can induce malignant transformation of mouse fibroblast cell NIH3T3. Discoveries of this study provide a basis for further structural and functional research on Jaagsiekte sheep retrovirus envelope protein.
Amino Acid Sequence ; Animals ; Betaretrovirus ; chemistry ; classification ; genetics ; physiology ; Cell Transformation, Viral ; Green Fluorescent Proteins ; genetics ; metabolism ; Mice ; Molecular Sequence Data ; NIH 3T3 Cells ; Phylogeny ; Retroviridae Infections ; veterinary ; virology ; Sequence Alignment ; Sheep ; Sheep Diseases ; virology ; Transformation, Genetic ; Tumor Virus Infections ; veterinary ; virology ; Viral Envelope Proteins ; chemistry ; genetics ; metabolism

Peste des petits ruminants virus is a member of Morbillivirus Paramyxoviridae. The complete genome of a Peste des petits ruminants virus (PPRV) isolate, China/Tib/07 was sequenced and molecular characteristics was analyzed. The internal sequences of the virus genome were amplified by RT-PCR with primers designed according to the published data in GenBank, while the sequences of the 3' and 5' ends of the genome were determined by RACE. Amplification products were directly sequenced,assembled and analyzed with DNAStar4.0. Results showed that China/Tib/07 genome consisted of 15 948 nucleotides in length, encoding six structural proteins and two non-structural proteins just like other known PPRV genomes. Phylogenetically, the virus genome shared homology of 91.6%-98.1% with Southwest Asian isolates among PPRV strains and the highest homology of 64.3% with rinderpest virus among morbillivirus members.
Animals ; Base Sequence ; Cercopithecus aethiops ; China ; Genome, Viral ; Molecular Sequence Data ; Peste-des-Petits-Ruminants ; veterinary ; virology ; Peste-des-petits-ruminants virus ; classification ; genetics ; isolation & purification ; Phylogeny ; Sequence Alignment ; Sequence Analysis, DNA ; Sheep ; Sheep Diseases ; virology ; Vero Cells ; Viral Proteins ; genetics

The nucleotide sequences of M and F genes from a field strain of peste des petits ruminants virus (PPRV) ("China/Tib/Gej/07-30") was firstly determined. The M gene was 1 483 nucleotides in length with a single open reading frame (ORF), encoding a protein of 335 amino acids. The F gene was 2411 nucleotides in length, encoding a protein of 546 amino acids. The resulting nucleotide sequence and the deduced amino acid sequences were compared with the homologous regions of other PPRV isolates. The nucleotide sequences of M and F genes of the "China/Tib/Gej/07-30" was 92.4%-97.7% and 85.5%-96.1% identical to other PPRV isolates, respectively, while a homology of 97.0%-98.2% and 94.3%-98.2% could be observed at the amino acids level respectively. Several sequence motifs in the M and F genes had been identified on the basis of conservation in the PPRVs and the morbilliviruses. The 3' untranslated region of M gene was 443 nucleotides in length with 82.4%-93.5% identical to other PPRV isolates. The 5' untranslated region of F gene was 634 nucleotides in length with 76.2%-91.7% identical to other PPRV isolates.
Amino Acid Sequence ; Animals ; Base Sequence ; Molecular Sequence Data ; Peste-des-Petits-Ruminants ; veterinary ; virology ; Peste-des-petits-ruminants virus ; chemistry ; classification ; genetics ; isolation & purification ; Phylogeny ; Sequence Homology, Amino Acid ; Sheep ; Sheep Diseases ; virology ; Tibet ; Viral Fusion Proteins ; chemistry ; genetics ; Viral Matrix Proteins ; chemistry ; genetics