Flies (Insecta, Diptera) collected in the environment of dairy farms as carriers of Rotavirus A and betacoronavirus

• Published in: Journal of applied microbiology Vol. 134; no. 3
• Main Authors: Bertolini, Amanda Bezerra, Thyssen, Patrícia Jacqueline, Brandão, Paulo Eduardo, Prado, Aline Marrara, Silva, Sheila Oliveira de Souza, Mioni, Mateus de Souza Ribeiro, de Gouvea, Fábio Lucas Rezende, Pantoja, José Carlos de Figueiredo, Langoni, Helio, Guimarães, Felipe Freitas, Joaquim, Sâmea Fernandes, Guerra, Simony Trevizan, Leite, Domingos da Silva, Rall, Vera Mores, Hernandes, Rodrigo Tavanelli, Lucheis, Simone Baldini, Rossi, Gabriel Augusto Marques, Ribeiro, Márcio Garcia
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Oxford University Press 01.03.2023
• Subjects: Animal health; Animals; Betacoronavirus; Cattle; Cattle Diseases - epidemiology; Coronaviruses; Dairy farming; Dairy farms; Diarrhea - epidemiology; Diptera; Farms; Feces; Genotype; Insecta; Insects; Phylogeny; Rotavirus; Rotavirus - genetics; Rotavirus Infections; Vector-borne diseases; dairy cows; RVA; BCoV; flying insects
• ISSN: 1365-2672; 1364-5072; 1365-2672
• DOI: 10.1093/jambio/lxad020

We aimed to investigate the prevalence of rotavirus and coronavirus in dipterans that commonly inhabit the environment of dairy farms. We collected 217 insect specimens from nine dairy farms, which were examined through hemi-nested RT-PCR followed by Sanger sequencing in search of VP1 and N genes for rotavirus and bovine coronavirus-BCoV, respectively. With a predominance of Muscidae (152/217 = 70%) 11 families of Diptera were identified. Rotavirus A (RVA) and betacoronavirus (BCoV) were detected in 14.7% (32/217) and 4.6% (10/217) of the dipterans, respectively. Sequencing of the amplicons was possible for 11.5% (25/217) of RVA and 0.5% (1/217) of BCoV, confirming the presence of these pathogens. Our findings highlight the role of dipterans as carriers of RVA and BCoV of great relevance for public and animal health.