Phylogenetic characterization of the canine distemper virus isolated from veterinary clinics in the Mekong Delta, Vietnam

Background and Aim: Canine distemper (CD) caused by the CD virus (CDV) has a high mortality rate that severely affects dog populations and other terrestrial carnivores worldwide. However, the genetics of CDV strains circulating in various regions in Vietnam, especially the Mekong Delta, remains unclear. This study aimed to characterize the molecular status of CDV strains circulating in the Mekong Delta, Vietnam. Materials and Methods: Ocular/nasal swabs were collected from 550 dogs with clinically suspected CDV infection from veterinary clinics in three Vietnamese provinces. A reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction on the part of the hemagglutinin gene was performed. A phylogenetic tree was constructed to analyze the relationship between the detected CDV and GenBank sequences. Results: The molecular study demonstrated that 4.18% (23/550) of the dogs were positive for CDV. The clinical findings revealed that the positive dogs exhibited clinical signs of distemper. The phylogenetic analysis indicated that the identified CDV sequences were clustered in the same branch with the genotype Asia-1 and distantly related to the vaccine strains. Notably, the CDV sequences detected in this study were grouped with the sequences previously found in southeast Vietnam; however, they were distant from those found in the north. Conclusion: The present study confirmed the presence of CDV and to the best of our knowledge, highlighted for the first time that the CDV strains circulating in the Mekong Delta of Vietnam belong to the genotype Asia-1. Keywords: canine, distemper virus, hemagglutinin gene, phylogenetic analysis, Vietnam.