Archives of Virology

, Volume 158, Issue 4, pp 729–734 | Cite as

Coronavirus genotype diversity and prevalence of infection in wild carnivores in the Serengeti National Park, Tanzania

  • Katja V. Goller
  • Jörns Fickel
  • Heribert Hofer
  • Sandra Beier
  • Marion L. East
Brief Review
First Online:
Received:
Accepted:

Abstract

Knowledge of coronaviruses in wild carnivores is limited. This report describes coronavirus genetic diversity, species specificity and infection prevalence in three wild African carnivores. Coronavirus RNA was recovered from fresh feces from spotted hyena and silver-backed jackal, but not bat-eared fox. Analysis of sequences of membrane (M) and spike (S) gene fragments revealed strains in the genus Alphacoronavirus, including three distinct strains in hyenas and one distinct strain in a jackal. Coronavirus RNA prevalence was higher in feces from younger (17 %) than older (3 %) hyenas, highlighting the importance of young animals for coronavirus transmission in wild carnivores.

Keywords

Gene Fragment Wild Carnivore Spotted Hyena Fresh Feces Coronavirus Infection 
These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.
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Notes

Acknowledgments

We thank COSTECH, TAWIRI and TANAPA for permission to conduct the study. We thank V. Benetka, N. Burgener, A. Francis, G. Orio, T. Shabani, D. Thierer and K. Wilhelm for assistance, V. Benetka, O. P. Höner and K. Möstl and for fruitful discussions, and two reviewers for helpful comments. The study was conducted within the GRAKO 1121 “Genetic and Immunologic Determinants of Pathogen-Host-Interactions” at the Center for Infection Biology and Immunity (ZIBI) of the Humboldt University Berlin and was financed by the DFG and IZW, Berlin.

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Copyright information

© Springer-Verlag Wien 2012

Authors and Affiliations

  • Katja V. Goller
    • 1
    • 2
  • Jörns Fickel
    • 1
  • Heribert Hofer
    • 1
  • Sandra Beier
    • 1
  • Marion L. East
    • 1
  1. 1.Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife ResearchBerlinGermany
  2. 2.Friedrich-Loeffler- Institut, Bundesforschungsinstitut für TiergesundheitGreifswald-Insel RiemsGermany

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