Detection of novel RNA viruses from free-living gorillas, Republic of the Congo: genetic diversity of picobirnaviruses.

ABSTRACT: Most of the emerging infectious diseases reported so far originated in wildlife. Therefore, virological surveillance of animals and particularly great apes is of great interest to establish the repertory of viruses associated with healthy hosts. This will further help to identify the emergence of new viruses and predict the possibility of interspecies transmission. In this study, we performed shotgun viral metagenomics on stool samples collected from seventeen free-living wild gorillas from the Republic of the Congo. The analysis revealed the presence of novel RNA viruses (picobirnaviruses, partitivirus, and Picornavirales (posa-like and dicistrovirus-like viruses)). Among these, picobirnavirus-related sequences were abundantly covered in the stools. Based on genetic variations both in cap

SUBMITTER: Duraisamy R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7088520 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature