Genomic Surveillance of Rabies Virus in Georgian Canines
Celeste Huaman,
Adrian C. Paskey,
Caitlyn Clouse,
Austin Feasley,
Madeline Rader,
Gregory K. Rice,
Andrea E. Luquette,
Maren C. Fitzpatrick,
Hannah M. Drumm,
Lianying Yan,
Regina Z. Cer,
Marina Donduashvili,
Tamar Buchukuri,
Anna Nanava,
Christine E. Hulseberg,
Michael A. Washington,
Eric D. Laing,
Francisco Malagon,
Christopher C. Broder,
Kimberly A. Bishop-Lilly,
Brian C. Schaefer
Affiliations
Celeste Huaman
Department of Microbiology, Uniformed Services University, Bethesda, MD 20814, USA
Adrian C. Paskey
Genomics and Bioinformatics Department, Biological Defense Research Directorate, Naval Medical Research Command-Frederick, Fort Detrick, Frederick, MD 21702, USA
Caitlyn Clouse
Department of Microbiology, Uniformed Services University, Bethesda, MD 20814, USA
Austin Feasley
Department of Microbiology, Uniformed Services University, Bethesda, MD 20814, USA
Madeline Rader
Department of Microbiology, Uniformed Services University, Bethesda, MD 20814, USA
Gregory K. Rice
Genomics and Bioinformatics Department, Biological Defense Research Directorate, Naval Medical Research Command-Frederick, Fort Detrick, Frederick, MD 21702, USA
Andrea E. Luquette
Genomics and Bioinformatics Department, Biological Defense Research Directorate, Naval Medical Research Command-Frederick, Fort Detrick, Frederick, MD 21702, USA
Maren C. Fitzpatrick
Genomics and Bioinformatics Department, Biological Defense Research Directorate, Naval Medical Research Command-Frederick, Fort Detrick, Frederick, MD 21702, USA
Hannah M. Drumm
Genomics and Bioinformatics Department, Biological Defense Research Directorate, Naval Medical Research Command-Frederick, Fort Detrick, Frederick, MD 21702, USA
Lianying Yan
Department of Microbiology, Uniformed Services University, Bethesda, MD 20814, USA
Regina Z. Cer
Genomics and Bioinformatics Department, Biological Defense Research Directorate, Naval Medical Research Command-Frederick, Fort Detrick, Frederick, MD 21702, USA
Marina Donduashvili
State Laboratory of Agriculture (SLA), Tbilisi 0159, Georgia
Tamar Buchukuri
State Laboratory of Agriculture (SLA), Tbilisi 0159, Georgia
Anna Nanava
US Army Medical Research Directorate-Georgia (USAMRD-G), Tbilisi 0198, Georgia
Christine E. Hulseberg
US Army Medical Research Directorate-Georgia (USAMRD-G), Tbilisi 0198, Georgia
Michael A. Washington
Dwight D. Eisenhower Army Medical Center, Augusta, GA 30905, USA
Eric D. Laing
Department of Microbiology, Uniformed Services University, Bethesda, MD 20814, USA
Francisco Malagon
Genomics and Bioinformatics Department, Biological Defense Research Directorate, Naval Medical Research Command-Frederick, Fort Detrick, Frederick, MD 21702, USA
Christopher C. Broder
Department of Microbiology, Uniformed Services University, Bethesda, MD 20814, USA
Kimberly A. Bishop-Lilly
Genomics and Bioinformatics Department, Biological Defense Research Directorate, Naval Medical Research Command-Frederick, Fort Detrick, Frederick, MD 21702, USA
Brian C. Schaefer
Department of Microbiology, Uniformed Services University, Bethesda, MD 20814, USA
Rabies is a fatal zoonosis that is considered a re-emerging infectious disease. Although rabies remains endemic in canines throughout much of the world, vaccination programs have essentially eliminated dog rabies in the Americas and much of Europe. However, despite the goal of eliminating dog rabies in the European Union by 2020, sporadic cases of dog rabies still occur in Eastern Europe, including Georgia. To assess the genetic diversity of the strains recently circulating in Georgia, we sequenced seventy-eight RABV-positive samples from the brain tissues of rabid dogs and jackals using Illumina short-read sequencing of total RNA shotgun libraries. Seventy-seven RABV genomes were successfully assembled and annotated, with seventy-four of them reaching the coding-complete status. Phylogenetic analyses of the nucleoprotein (N) and attachment glycoprotein (G) genes placed all the assembled genomes into the Cosmopolitan clade, consistent with the Georgian origin of the samples. An amino acid alignment of the G glycoprotein ectodomain identified twelve different sequences for this domain among the samples. Only one of the ectodomain groups contained a residue change in an antigenic site, an R264H change in the G5 antigenic site. Three isolates were cultured, and these were found to be efficiently neutralized by the human monoclonal antibody A6. Overall, our data show that recently circulating RABV isolates from Georgian canines are predominantly closely related phylogroup I viruses of the Cosmopolitan clade. Current human rabies vaccines should offer protection against infection by Georgian canine RABVs. The genomes have been deposited in GenBank (accessions: OQ603609-OQ603685).
