Isolation and Characterization of Encephalomyocarditis Virus from Dogs in China

Abstract

Encephalomyocarditis virus (EMCV) is as a potential zoonotic agent with a wide host range. Here, we describe an EMC virus isolate, identified as EMCV C15, which was successfully obtained from the serum of dogs from animal hospitals. Virus production in cell culture was confirmed by EMCV-specific real-time RT-PCR, indirect immunofluorescence assays and electron microscopy. In addition, the open reading frame sequence (ORF) of the EMCV C15 virus was determined. From sequence comparison and phylogenetic analysis among 24 reference EMCV strains, it appears that the EMCV C15 strain is closely genetically related to strain BEL2887A/91 (>99.0% nucleotide identity). In artificially challenged dogs, the heart and brain were important targets of EMCV C15. This study provides genetic and pathogenic characterization of the EMCV C15 strain isolated in Beijing and calls for sustained surveillance of EMCV infection in China to support better prevention and control of the disease.

Encephalomyocarditis virus infection in alpacas

“…The occurrence of inappetence, recumbency and death in these alpacas is consistent with EMCV‐related disease as described in both experimental and natural infections 2–4,7–17 . The dyspnoea described for non‐human primates with EMCV disease, reflecting acute congestive cardiac failure, was not observed in the affected alpacas, except for A5, despite the histological evidence of pulmonary oedema in A3, A4 and A5 7,11 .…”

“…The pathological changes characteristic of EMCV infection have been described for pigs, dogs, rodents, non‐human primates and a range of mammalian species in zoos 2–4,7–17 . The histopathological findings of acute myocardial degeneration and necrosis in these alpacas are consistent with EMCV‐related disease in other species, which is usually associated with a non‐suppurative myocarditis 7,16 .…”

Encephalomyocarditis virus is potentially derived from eastern bent-wing bats living in East Asian countries

“…Although it is considered a rodent virus (Liu et al, 2017Spyrou et al, 2004), it has wide-spectrum of hosts including monkeys and porcupines (Cardeti et al, 2016), elephants (Lamglait et al, 2015), wild boar (Liu et al, 2017, dogs (Luo et al, 2017), tapir (Vercammen et al, 2017), with pigs being the most sensitive (Liu et al, 2017;Maurice et al, 2016;Vansteenkiste et al, 2016). It causes myocarditis, encephalitis, neurological diseases, reproductive disorders, and diabetes (Luo et al, 2017;Carocci and Bakkali-Kassimi, 2012). As a potentially zoonotic virus, its discovery in these caves could pose a threat to animals and humans living nearby because this virus is resistant to a hostile environment and thus can remain infectious for days (Carocci and Bakkali-Kassimi, 2012).…”

Isolation, molecular and phylogenetic analysis of porcine encephalomyocarditis virus strain HLJ in China

“…The P1 region protein constitutes the virus capsid, which is the main antigenic site of the virus, and is closely related to the adsorption and pathogenicity of the virus. P2 and P3 region are mainly viral genome replication related proteins and polyprotein cleavage related proteins [19,20].…”