Identification of canine parvovirus type 2C in puppies of Nicaragua

Identificación de parvovirus canino tipo 2C en cachorros de Nicaragua

Objective. To identify genotypes of canine parvovirus circulating in puppies in two municipalities of Nicaragua. Materials and methods. Rectal swab samples were collected from 45 puppies (less than 6 months of age) with or without a vaccination history, showing or not symptomatology compatible with parvoviruses. The samples and two of the vaccines that are marketed in Nicaragua (vaccine nº1 and vaccine nº2) were analyzed by conventional Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) to a product of ≈ 630 bp of the VP2 gene. In addition, four randomly chosen field samples and both vaccine strains were sequenced in reverse sense. Results. 28.9% (13/45) of the analyzed samples were positive by PCR, for the fragment of CPV VP2 gene. No significative difference (p≥0.05) was seen in PCR detection between dogs with or without vaccination history. The four sequenced field samples were identified as CPV-2C genotype while both vaccine strains were identified as CPV-2A genotype. Conclusions. The aligned sequences showed high evolutionary divergence of filed strains with respect to vaccines strains, leading us to rethink the efficacy of the analyzed vaccines which are nowadays commercially available in Nicaragua.