G and P Genotypes of Group A Rotavirus in Diarrheic Calves in Costa Rica
José Bonilla-Espinoza
Programa de Investigación en Enfermedades Tropicales (PIET), Escuela de Medicina Veterinaria, Heredia, Costa Rica and Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Nicaragua, (UNAN), León, Nicaragua.
Lurys Bourdett-Stanziola *
Programa de Investigación en Enfermedades Tropicales (PIET), Escuela de Medicina Veterinaria, Heredia, Costa Rica and Instituto de Investigaciones Científicas, INDICASAT, Panamá and Facultad de Ciencias Agropecuarias, Universidad de Panamá, Panamá.
Carlos Jiménez
Programa de Investigación en Enfermedades Tropicales (PIET), Escuela de Medicina Veterinaria, Heredia, Costa Rica.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
Rotavirus infections are the most common causes of infectious diarrhea in young children and animals worldwide. We performed a genotyping of rotavirus strains by RT-PCR for G (VP7) and P (VP4), in diarrhea samples from calves, in several locations in Costa Rica. Combinations of genotypes G (VP7) and P (VP4) were identified in cattle: 4 (26%) corresponding to G8 P [11], 4 (24%) to G6P [11], 3 (19%) to G8P [7], 2 (13%) to G10P [1], 3 (19%) to G10P [11], and 1 (6%) to G8P [1] and mixed infections. This research represents the first report of bovine rotavirus strains (calves) in Costa Rica and in the Central American region.
Keywords: Rotavirus, diarrhea, calves, VP7 and VP4.