Epidemiological and molecular study of Rotavirus infection among human and animal in Karbala and Basrah provinces

This study was aimed to determine the prevalence of rotaviruses in Karbala and Basrah provinces, the genetic reassortment of human and animal rotavirus strains and the novel strains. Rotaviruses were detected by Immunochromatography Test (ICT) then the positive samples were tested by reverse transcription PCR (RT-PCR) using specific primers to VP7 gene, this gene is responsible for VP7 antigen which is responsible for stimulation the immune system to produce neutralizing antibodies. The VP7 gene was implemented in rotavirus vaccine of Iraqi immunization program. The RT PCR results showed that 56.3% (27/48) of samples positive in children under five years of age in Karbala province while Basrah province revealed 58.5% (31/53) positive samples in children whereas samples taken from calves revealed 43.1% (22/51) and 45.5% (25/55) positive samples in Karbala and Basrah provinces respectively. The sequencing of human and animal samples revealed that there was genetic reassortment between human and animal strains while in comparing with international strains there was closely related with Indian and Pakistani human strains. Necessarily for further bioinformatics studies are needed to study the genetic alterations with viral proteins analysis of rotavirus.