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Canine parvovirus (CPV) has emerged as an acute pathogen of young canine causing haemorrhagic enteritis and myocarditis. It is widely distributed and underreported in India. Therefore the study was conducted to type the CPV circulating in western Maharashtra. The faecal samples (n = 150) from clinically ill dogs showing diarrhoea and vomition were collected and subjected to haemagglutination (HA) with porcine RBC's. The DNA was extracted from the samples showing HA titres above 64 and subjected for amplification of VP 2 gene fragment by PCR. The amplicons were subjected for restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP), sequencing and BEAST phylogenetic analysis. The results revealed 6% positivity by PCR. The RFLP results indicated single cleavage site for ApaL I and Hinf I with an exception of two sites for Hinf I. The nucleotide sequences showed nonfunctional nucleotide changes at different locations. The sequence analysis indicated that the nucleotide divergence within isolates under study was 0.00–0.42%, while the nucleotide homology was 99.58–100%. The most recent common ancestor was determined by molecular clock analysis using Bayesian methods. The sequence and phylogenetic analysis suggested the isolates as CPV-2a and KATN1 (KU866391, 2014) isolate from Tamilnadu, India as time to most recent common ancestor (TMRCA). The results revealed the circulating CPV in canines from western India as CPV2a genotype. • This is first report on Canine parvovirus circulating in western India. • This study reports the Canine parvovirus circulating in western India belongs to genotype CPV2a. • This study reports the diverse restriction digestion patterns due to nucleotide change. • This study elucidates ancestry of field CPV. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nearly 1.7 million cases of dog bites are reported every year in India and many cases of animal rabies are left unattended and undiagnosed. Therefore, a mere diagnosis of rabies is not sufficient to understand the epidemiology and the spread of the rabies virus (RV) in animals. There is a paucity of information about the evolutionary dynamics of RV in dogs and its biodiversity patterns in India. In total, 50 dog-brain samples suspected of rabies were screened by the nucleoprotein- (N) and glycoprotein- (G) gene PCR. The N and G genes were subsequently sequenced to understand the molecular evolution in these genes. The phylogenetic analysis of the N gene revealed that six isolates in the Mumbai region belonged to a single Arctic lineage. Time-scaled phylogeny by Bayesian coalescent analysis of the partial N gene revealed that the time to the most recent common ancestor (TMRCA) for the sequences belonged to the cluster from 2006.68 with a highest posterior density of 95 % betweeen 2005-2008, which is assigned to Indian lineage I. Migration pattern revealed a strong Bayes factor between Mumbai to Delhi, Panji to Hyderabad, Delhi to Chennai, and Chennai to Chandigarh. Phylogenetic analysis of the G gene revealed that the RVs circulating in the Mumbai region are divided into three lineages. Time-scaled phylogeny by the Bayesian coalescent analysis method estimated that the TMRCA for sequences under study was from 1993 and Indian clusters was from 1962. In conclusion, the phylogenetic analysis of the N gene revealed that six isolates belonged to single Arctic lineages along with other Indian isolates and they were clustered into a single lineage but divided into three clades based on the G-gene sequences. The present study highlights and enhances the current molecular epidemiology and evolution of RV and revealed strong location bias and geographical clustering within Indian isolates on the basis of N and G genes.

The continued spread and occurrence of Newcastle disease virus (NDV) has posed potential threat to domestic poultry industry around the globe. Mainly, wild avian species has always been implicated for the natural reservoir for virus and spread of the disease. In the present study, we report the isolation of Newcastle disease virus (NDV/Peacock/India/2012) in necropsy brain tissue sample of wild peacock from North India. Complete genome of the virus was found to be 15,186 nucleotides (nts) with six genes in order of 3'-N-P-M-F-HN-L-5', which was limited by 55-nts leader region at the 3' end and a 114-nts trailer sequence at 5' end. Sequence analysis of fusion protein revealed the dibasic amino acid cleavage site (112)R-R-Q-K-R-F(117), a characteristic motif of virulent virus. Phylogenetic analysis placed the isolate in genotype II of Newcastle disease virus showing the lowest mean percent divergence (6 %) with other genotype II counterparts. The isolate was characterized as mesogenic (intermediate pathotype) based on the mean death time (63 h) in embryonated chicken eggs and the intra-cerebral pathogenicity index (1.40) in day-old chicks. The report emphasizes the dynamic ecology of NDV strains circulating in a wild avian host during the outbreak of 2012 in North India. Further the genotypic and pathotypical characterizations of the isolate could help in development of homologous vaccine against NDV strain circulating in avian population.

Avian infectious bronchitis is ubiquitous and highly contagious disease of poultry, with profound effect on commercial poultry production. For effective control of infectious bronchitis virus (IBV), quick and specific diagnosis is of utmost importance. In this study, the virus was isolated from clinical samples from India and the full length nucleocapsid (N) gene was amplified, cloned and expressed in a prokaryotic system. The purified recombinant N protein based single serum dilution enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was developed for IBV to measure specific antibody in the sera of chickens. A total of 310 chicken sera samples were tested using the commercial IDEXX kit along with the assay developed. A linear correlation was obtained between predicted antibody titres at a single working dilution of 1:100 and the corresponding serum titres observed as determined by the standard serial dilution method. Regression analysis was used to construct a standard curve from which an equation was derived which confirmed their correlation. The developed equation was then used to extrapolate predicated ELISA antibody titer from corrected absorbance readings of the single working dilution. The assay proved to be specific (95.8%) and sensitive (96.8%) when compared to the commercial IDEXX ELISA test., (Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)