Animal Rotaviruses

Abstract

Rotaviruses (RVs) are ubiquitous and remain the major cause of acute viral gastroenteritis in young animals, bird species and children worldwide. The disease is acute, occurs predominantly in intensively reared animals and characterized by a short incubation period, anorexia and diarrhoea. Post-infection immunity and immune system and intestinal microbiome maturation make immunocompetent adults of different species resistant to clinical RV disease. RVs of groups A, B, C, E, H, I and J have been detected in sporadic, endemic or epidemic infections of various mammalian species, whereas RV strains of groups D, F and G are only found in poultry, such as chickens and turkeys. Recently identified novel RVs in sheltered dogs in Hungary and bats in Serbia are tentatively identified as group I and J, respectively. Historically, diagnosis of RV infections relied on conventional techniques such as isolation in cell culture, electron microscopy, electropherotyping and various serological tests. Presently, RT-PCR assays and molecular typing using sequencing or genomic hybridization techniques are used predominantly for RV diagnosis and classification. Because RVs are endemic in most animal populations and exhibit extreme genetic diversity due to frequent mutations and re-assortment events, available RV vaccines are only marginally efficient, and eradication of the pathogen remains a challenge. Thus, a better understanding of the historic and current prevalence and genetic diversity of animal RVs in different geographic regions, disease pathogenesis, available control strategies and zoonotic potential is needed. This knowledge will lead to the development of more optimal strategies to manage RV diarrhoeal disease in animals, birds and humans.