engleski

Astroviruses in wild boars: The prevalence and phylogeny of strains detected in Croatia

Astroviruses are emerging viral agents infecting a wide variety of mammal and bird species which have been thoroughly investigated in recent years. However, the data regarding their presence in wild boars are rather limited. Therefore the aim of our study was to expand the current knowledge on astrovirus prevalence in wild boars and to elucidate their phylogenetic classification. The present study was carried out on 77 fecal samples evenly distributed into three age groups of healthy wild boars hunted in Croatia. The samples were processed by using a pan astrovirus molecular approach with the addition of sequencing step for selected positive samples. The results showed that astrovirus is present in 28.6% of wild boar fecal samples, similarly in all age groups and with distribution of positives along large river areas in inland Croatia. The phylogenic relatedness of selected strains to other mammalian astroviruses was the most prominent to porcine astroviruses (PAstV). The clustering characteristics confirmed their close resemblance to lineages PAstV 2-5 with two divergent strains of potentially new species. In conclusion, our results show that astroviruses in wild boars are moderately prevalent, nevertheless with doubtful clinical significance. River areas may have a role in astrovirus epidemiology in the wild boar population. The apparent phylogenetic link among wild boar and domestic pig astroviruses indicates a possible circulation of the same group of astrovirus species.

Astroviruses; Wild boars; Pylogenetic analysis; Croatia

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