[Epidemiological investigation on natural infection to Borna disease virus (BDV) among horses in Yili, Xinjiang].

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the epidemiological pattern of Borna disease virus (BDV) infection in horses and to analyze the phylogenetic tree of derived BDV in Yili, Xinjiang. METHODS: We established a modified nested RT-PCR (nRT-PCR) to detect BDV p24 segment in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) and brain tissues of 120 horses in Yili, Xinjiang. Positive products were analyzed by sequencing and homology analysis. RESULTS: The positive rate of BDV infection was 2.5% in both PMBCs and brain tissues at the same time. The gene sequence revealed in positive PCR samples was more than 93%, identical to that of BDV derived from horses in other countries. We also noticed a high degree of identity (> 98%) to standard strain He/80 in gene sequence of positive PCR samples. CONCLUSION: Our study found the presence of BDV natural infection in horses in Yili. The endemic BDV had a high degree of identity to standard strain He/80.