A novel hepadnavirus in domestic dogs.

ABSTRACT: Hepadnaviruses have been identified in several animal species. The hepadnavirus prototype, human hepatitis B virus (HBV), is a major public health problem associated with chronic liver diseases and hepatocellular carcinoma. Recently, a novel hepadnavirus, similar to HBV, was identified in domestic cats. Since several pathogens can be shared between cats and dogs, we hypothesized that dogs could also harbor hepadnaviruses and we tested a collection of canine sera with multiple molecular strategies. Overall, hepadnavirus DNA was identified in 6.3% (40/635) of canine serum samples, although the viral load in positive sera was low (geometric mean of 2.70 × 10² genome copies per mL, range min 1.36 × 10²-max 4.03 × 10⁴ genome copies per mL). On genome sequencing,

SUBMITTER: Diakoudi G 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8860997 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature