Molecular characterization of canine parvovirus in Brazil by polymerase chain reaction assay

Canine parvovirus (CPV) was first isolated in 1978 in the USA. Analysis of CPV isolates by monoclonal antibodies and restriction enzymes have shown th at after the first emergence of CPV (CPV-2) it evolved to give rise to new antigenic types, which were designated CPV type 2a and type 2b. These new t ypes have replaced the original CPV type 2, although the proportions of eac h of the new antigenic types vary in different countries, In Brazil, CPV-li ke infections were first observed in 1979, however, there has been no infor mation concerning the antigenic types of CPV prevailing in South America. I n this study we designed a PCR assay to type canine parvovirus strains in f ecal samples collected from symptomatic dogs during 1980 through 1986 and 1 990 through 1995. Our data showed that the CPV epizootic in Brazil followed the same pattern observed in the USA of emergence of CPV-2 followed by rep lacement by the variants CPV-2a and 2b, The predominant strain found during 1980 was CPV-2a, which was substantially replaced by CPV-2b from 1990 to 1 995, (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.