Possible cross-species transmission of circoviruses and cycloviruses in farm animals
Published online ahead of print December 22, 2010, doi: 10.1099/vir.0.028704-0 J Gen Virol April 2011 vol. 92 no. 4 768-772
Linlin Li,
Tongling Shan,
Soji Bamidele Oderinde,
Alam Muhammad Masroor,
Thomas Kunz,
Zahoor Sohail Zaidi,
and Eric Delwart
Abstract
Circoviruses consist of highly prevalent and genetically diverse porcine and avian pathogens. The genomes of cycloviruses, a proposed new genus in the family Circoviridae, were recently identified in human and chimpanzee faeces. Here, six cyclovirus and four circovirus genomes from the tissues of chickens, goats, cows, and a bat were amplified and sequenced using rolling-circle amplification and inverse PCR. A goat cyclovirus was nearly identical to a cyclovirus from a cow. USA beef contained circoviruses with >99 % similarity to porcine circovirus 2b. Circoviruses in chicken were related to those of pigeons. The close genetic similarity of a subset of cycloviruses and circoviruses replicating in distinct animal species may reflect recent cross-species transmissions. Further studies will be required to determine the impact of these highly prevalent infections on the health of farm animals.
