Author(s)

Massimo Giangaspero^1*, Shu-Qin Zhang², Claudio Apicella³

¹Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Teramo, Teramo, Italy.
²Key Laboratory of Special Animal Epidemic Disease, Ministry of Agriculture, Institute of Special Economic Animal and Plant Sciences, Changchun, China.
³Directorate General of Veterinary Public Health, Food and Nutrition, Ministry of Health, Rome, Italy.

Pestivirus are responsible for cosmopolitan diseases affecting cattle, pigs and other ruminants, presenting a wide range of clinical manifestations, with relevant impact on zootechnic production. Understanding genomic characteristic and virus taxonomy is fundamental in order to sustain control and prophylactic programs. Given the recent various studies reporting a relatively high number of new strains, in particular from Asian countries, in the present study, six hundred-fifty-one genomic sequences have been considered applying the palindromic nucleotide substitutions method for genotyping. Based on the secondary structure analysis of the 5’ untranslated region of RNA, sequence characteristics among Asian genomic clusters within the different Pestivirus species suggested geographic segregation and occurrence of micro-evolutive steps in the genus evolutionary history. This aspect was particularly evident in atypical sequences originated from China or Turkey, indicating risk of diffusion by animals and products trade or contamination of biological products as bovine calf serum, with potential diagnostic and control difficulties.

Asia, Genotypes, Pestivirus, Secondary Structure

Giangaspero, M. , Zhang, S. and Apicella, C. (2019) Heterogeneity of Pestivirus Species in Asia. Advances in Microbiology, 9, 266-342. doi: 10.4236/aim.2019.93019.