Jumping of Camelid Coronavirus in Bovines: A Report from Rural Area of Haryana, India

Bovine coronaviruses (BCoVs) are generally species specific, but cross species transmission has been demonstrated experimentally. Several examples have represented the infection of humans by coronavirus. Most of the coronaviruses are found in domestic as well as wild animals, and it is possible that they arose in human population though zoonotic transmission. In the present study, we evaluated presence of bovine corona virus (BCoV) in bovine fecal samples and reported the infection using RT-PCR assay. BCoV was detected using trans-membrane (M) gene specific RT-PCR with 523 bp amplicon size. A total three hundred thirteen (313) bovine fecal samples were collected for the present study. Out of 313 buffalo fecal samples, 31 buffalo were found infected with coronavirus by RT-PCR assay. The results suggest that RT- PCR is sensitive and specific method to detect BCoV, especially in subclinical cases. These results were further confirmed by sequencing of PCR products. The phylogenetic analysis showed that BCoV strains ABT/16/BF/Bocv183, ABT/BF/16/Bocv164 and ABT/BF/16/Bocv86 have close association with bovine strains from USA and Japan. However, ABT/BF/16/Bocv167 strain formed a separate clad along with camelid coronavirus strains and revealed the cross species transmission from camel to bovine. To the best of our knowledge this is the first report of interspecies transmission of coronavirus form camel to bovine.