There are a number of studies reporting rotavirus strain distribution in animals or humans in India but they do not provide any geographic or temporal comparisons of distribution among animals and humans [14], [18], [23] and [24]. This is also similar to the lack of such reports worldwide with only a few studies that have compared the strains isolated from animals Selleckchem SP600125 and humans simultaneously in the same region [25] and [26]. In this study, we aimed to provide data on the disease burden and strain prevalence of rotavirus in animals and humans in our region and investigate interspecies transmission

by comparison of circulating genotypes using hemi-nested PCR typing for common human G- and P-types. In addition, a G10 rotavirus strain isolated for the first time with combination of P[15] in India was characterized by partial genome sequence analysis.

Stool samples were collected from children aged less than five years, admitted to the hospital between January 2003 and May 2006 for diarrhea, defined as the passage of three or more watery stools in a 24-h period [27]. The severity of diarrhea was assessed using the Vesikari scoring system [28]. Information was collected on duration of diarrhea, maximum number of stools passed per day, duration and peak frequency of vomiting, degree of fever, presence and severity of dehydration and treatment. An episode was considered INK1197 chemical structure mild for scores 0–5, moderate for a score of 6–10, severe for a score of 11–15 and very severe for scores 16–20. Diarrheal samples from animals were collected from a veterinary clinic and several dairy farms near Vellore between February 2007 and May 2008. At the dairy farms, diarrheal samples from cows alone were collected, while from the veterinary clinic, samples from cows, buffaloes, bullocks and goats were collected. Animal stool samples were subjected to proteinase K (2 μg/ml in 20 mM Tris, pH 7.5, 10 mM EDTA, and 0.1% SDS) treatment for 1 h followed by CC41 extraction [29]. From the stool samples of hospitalized

children, RNA was extracted using Trizol™ reagent [30]. cDNA was synthesized from many the extracted viral RNA through reverse transcription in the presence of random hexamers. Amplification of the VP6 gene was performed using primers described previously [31]. G and P typing were performed using VP7 and VP4 specific multiplex hemi-nested RT-PCRs for common human genotypes, as described previously [32], [33] and [34]. Forward and reverse primers for the amplification of each segment other than VP7, VP6, VP4 and NSP4 to characterize G10P[15] strain were obtained from a published protocol [35]. PCR cycling conditions were determined based on the melting temperatures (Tm) of the primer pairs used for each PCR. When strains failed to genotype or genotypes needed to be confirmed, the first round PCR products generated through the use of consensus primers were sequenced and the genotype determined by sequence and phylogenetic analysis.