Whole-Genome Sequence and Assembly of Eight Africa Horse Sickness Virus Strains Collected in Namibia and South Africa

Abstract

In this report, we describe eight complete genome sequences of African horse sickness virus (AHSV) strains belonging to four different serotypes, namely, AHSV-5, AHSV-6, AHSV-8, and AHSV-9. Samples were collected in Namibia and South Africa from infected horses between 2000 and 2011.In this report, we describe eight complete genome sequences of African horse sickness virus (AHSV) strains belonging to four different serotypes, namely, AHSV-5, AHSV-6, AHSV-8, and AHSV-9. Samples were collected in Namibia and South Africa from infected horses between 2000 and 2011. As expected, phylogenetic analyses of the variable outer capsid protein VP2 genomic sequences of AHSV-6 and AHSV-8 show higher nucleotide identity between the isolated viruses than that of the relevant reference strains. The full-genome sequence of AHSV will provide useful information on its geographical origin, and it will also be instrumental for comparing the distribution of the Namibian isolate with that of global isolates.