Prevalence of the emerging novel Alongshan virus infection in sheep and cattle in Inner Mongolia, northeastern China

BACKGROUND: Alongshan virus (ALSV) is a novel discovered segmented flavivirus associated with human febrile illness in northeastern China. Ixodes persulcatus is considered as a candidate vector of ALSV in the endemic regions. However, the role of domesticated animals in the circulation and transmission of ALSV have not been investigated. To evaluate the prevalence of ALSV infections in domesticated animals, viral RNA and viral specific antibodies were detected in sheep and cattle in Hulunbuir of northeastern Inner Mongolia. The findings contribute to the understanding of the ecology and transmission of ALSV among different natural hosts. METHODS: A total of 480 animal serum samples were collected in Hulunbuir of northeastern China in May, 2017. Viral specific antibodies were tested by indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) with a purified E. coli recombinant capsid protein (VP2) of ALSV (strain H3) and further detected by viral neutralization test (VNT). RNA in serum samples were extracted and detected for ALSV sequence by quantitative real-time RT-PCR. ALSV RNA positive samples were used for virus isolation. RESULTS: ALSV-specific antibodies were detected in 9.2% (22/240) of examined sheep and 4.6% (11/240) of examined cattle by ELISA, while lower serological positivity with 4.2% (10/240) for sheep and 1.7% (4/240) for cattle was confirmed by VNT. In contrast, the prevalence of ALSV RNA was much higher, ranging from 26.3% (63/240) in sheep to 27.5% (66/240) in cattle. The partial S1 (NS5-like) and S3 (NS3-like) segments of ALSVs in sheep and cattle shared high identities of more than 98% to the human and tick isolates in the studied regions. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that the natural infection of ALSV can be found in sheep and cattle in the endemic regions.