First identification and characterization of rotavirus H in swine in Spain

Rotaviruses (RVs) are classified into nine species or groups (RVA-RVD and RVF-RVJ). RVA, RVB and RVC are well-recognized as etiological agents of enteric disease on swine farms and have been identified in all countries with a relevant pork production. Contrarily, RVH has only been identified on swine farms from Japan and more recently from Brazil, USA, South Africa and Vietnam but not yet in Europe. The occurrence of RVH was investigated in 103 Spanish pig herds. Nine farms were positive and we achieved a complete nucleotide sequences in three isolates while another RVH isolate was partially sequenced. Mean nucleotide identities with the RVH sequences available in GenBank ranged between 69.4% and 93.7%. Phylogenetically, all genomic segments of Spanish RVH isolate clustered closely with other porcine RVH strains but were distantly related to human RVH as well as bat RVH strain. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of RVH on swine farms in Europe including its characterization by means of complete genome sequencing.