Genetic relationship of Torque Teno Virus (TTV) between humans and camels in United Arab Emirates (UAE)

Torque Teno Virus (TTV) species-cross infection has been documented. However, the genetic relationship between human and animal TTV remains uncertain. In this study, genotypic characterization of TTV in different Camel specimens from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) was undertaken for comparison with human UAE TTV. A total of 56 specimens: 34 sera, 14 raw, and 8 pasteurized milk samples were tested for TTV. The results showed that the rate of infection was, 38.2% (13/34), 35.7% (5/14), and 100% (8/8), for the samples of sera, raw,and pasteurized milk respectively. The 5' untranslated region (5' UTR) of 23 clones that were generated from PCR products amplified from Camel samples (three sera, three raw, and two pasteurized milk samples) were subjected to sequence analysis. The camel TTV clones were classified as genotype 11 (47.8%), group 5 (43.5%), and SENV-H or genotype 16 (8.7%) which are among the predominant genotypes found in humans in the UAE. Phylogenetic analysis of representative sequences revealed that the similarity between isolates from camels and humans is 92%-97% for the same genotypes. The data lead to the conclusion that camels and humans share a common source of TTV infection in the UAE. (c) 2006 Wiley-Liss, Inc.