Genetic characterization of duck Tembusu virus isolated from domestic ducks in Thailand, 2016

Introduction A new contagious disease characterized by severe neurological problems and severe drop in egg production has emerged in broiler and layer duck farms in China, Malaysia and Thailand (1,3,6, 9,). The causative agent of the outbreaks was identified as a duck Tembusu virus (DTMUV), which is a singlestranded RNA virus, belonging to the Ntaya group, a member of mosquito-borne Flavivirus. Previous studies showed that Thai DTMUVs were closely related to Chinese DTMUVs (1, 9). After the initial outbreak, the DTUMV cases have been continuously detected in several duck producing areas in Thailand. Therefore, the systemic surveillance and the genetic characterization of currently circulating DTMUVs in ducks in Thailand are necessary for understanding the divergence of circulating DTMUV strains. This study aims to investigate the genetic characteristics and the geographic distribution of DTMUVs in ducks in Thailand during July-October 2016.