Molecular characteristics of the spike gene of porcine epidemic diarrhoea virus strains in Eastern China in 2016.

The outbreak of piglet diarrhoea caused by porcine epidemic diarrhoea virus (PEDV) began to spread in Southern China in late 2010 and resulted in significant economic losses throughout the country. To determine the prevalence and the molecular characteristics of common PEDV strains in China, 1272 faeces and small intestine samples in pigs were collected from 17 provinces and inspected for PEDV; the full-length spike (S) gene of 18 detected PEDV strains collected from five eastern provinces were sequenced and analysed. The epidemiological data revealed that the PEDV-positive rate in diarrhoea specimens was 28.