Molecular epidemiology of canine parvovirus in Namibia

Dogs and cats have an increasing importance in the daily life of many families, and their care is a consolidated goal of Veterinary Medicine. It is in this context that canine parvovirosis emerges as a very widespread disease, feared for its characteristics of persistence, infectivity and lethality. It is caused by a small, single-stranded DNA virus member of the species Carnivore protoparvovirus 1 (genus Protoparvovirus, family Parvoviridae), the Canine parvovirus (CPV). There are several antigenic variants of CPV, including CPV-2a, CPV-2b, and CPV-2c, each with slightly different characteristics and prevalence in different parts of the world. CPV is a highly contagious viral infection that affects dogs, especially puppies, and can lead to severe illness or death if left untreated. and It can be transmitted through direct contact with infected dogs or their faces, as well as through contaminated objects or environments. Vaccination is an important preventive measure against CPV infection. The present work aims to increase the knowledge of CPV epidemiology and investigate the Namibian epidemiological situation. To this purpose, newly generated sequences from Namibian domestic dogs and jackals were obtained and compared with already available ones. A dedicated phylogeographic analysis revealed that the introduction was more likely mediated by other African countries, highlighting the challenge of controlling illegal animal imports across land borders. Similarly, the absence of any geographical clustering within Namibia testify a substantially unconstrained viral circulation among districts. Although the limited wild animals' sample size prevents any definitive conclusion, the identity of the sequences from the jackal and the ones originating from the domestic dogs suggests a potential inter-species transmission.