Research Note: Molecular relationship of the fowl adenovirus serotype 4 isolated from the contaminated live vaccine and wild strains isolated in China, 2013-2018

Abstract

Since June 2013, hydropericardium-hepatitis syndrome caused by putative novel fowl adenovirus 4 (FAdV-4) infection has spread all over China, leading to great economic losses. Previous study found that the use of attenuated vaccines contaminated with FAdV-4 is likely to be an important cause of such large-scale transmission. Here, we sequenced the whole genome of this strain through the next-generation sequencing and carried out a retrospective analysis of the FAdV-4 strains that have been determined in China recently. Results show the vaccine strain was almost 100% identical with wild virus strains, especially with 4 strains considering the difference of the GA repeat region, further linking the relationship between vaccine contamination and FAdV-4 prevalence in China. Meanwhile, there is no time and regional preference for the emergence of FAdV-4 strains with different molecular characteristics in China, which indicates that there may be multiple routes of transmission of this virus, suggesting that we still need to pay more attention to and formulate correct prevention and control in the future.

Keywords

• FAdV-4
• whole genome
• inclusion body hepatitis-hydropericardium syndrome
• vaccine contamination