Complete genome characterization of porcine epidemic diarrhea virus in Vietnam

Porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV) first emerged in Vietnam in 2009. In this study, the complete genomes of three Vietnamese PEDV isolates were characterized. These three isolates were isolated from 3-day-old pigs experiencing diarrhea. Two isolates were from swine farms in the south, and the other was from northern Vietnam. The whole genome sequences of these isolates are 28,035 nucleotides in length and have characteristics similar to those of other PEDV isolates. All three Vietnamese PEDV isolates share 99.8 % and 99.6 % sequence identity at the nucleotide and amino acid level, respectively, and have insertions of four amino acids (GENQ) and one amino acid (N) at positions 56-59 and 140, respectively, and one deletion of two amino acids (DG) at positions 160-161. Phylogenetic analysis based on the whole genome revealed that the three Vietnamese PEDV isolates are grouped together with new variants from China from 2011 to 2012 and are genetically distinct from US isolates and the classical PEDV variant. The results suggest that Vietnamese PEDV isolates are new variants, as evidenced by their genetic composition of insertions and a deletion in the spike gene, and they might have originated from the same ancestor as the Chinese PEDV strain. This study provides a better understanding of the molecular characteristics of PEDV in Vietnam.