Molecular characterisation of canine parvovirus strains circulating in China

Abstract

Canine parvovirus (CPV) was first isolated at 1978 in the USA. Analysis of CPV isolates by monoclonal antibodies and restriction enzymes have shown that after the first emergence of CPV (CPV-2) it evolved to give rise to new antigenic types, which were designated CPV types 2a, 2b and 2c. These new types have replaced the original CPV type 2, although the proportions of each of the new antigenic types vary in different countries. In China, CPV infections were first observed in 1982, however, there has been no information concerning the antigenic types of CPV prevailing in China now. In this study, we designed a PCR assay to type canine parvovirus strains in fecal samples collected from symptomatic dogs from 2006 to 2009. Our data showed that the CPV prevalent strain is mostly 2b, the proportion of CPV-2a is very low, no CPV-2c and CPV-2 were observed.