Mamastrovirus 5 (MAstV5), belonging to the Astroviridae (AstV) family, previously knownas canine astrovirus or astrovirus-like particles, has been reported in several countries tobe associated with viral enteric disease in dogs since the 1980s. Astroviruses have beendetected in fecal samples from a wide variety of mammals and birds that are associ-ated with gastroenteritis and extra enteric manifestations. In the present study, RT-PCRwas used to investigate the presence of MAstV5 in 269 dog fecal samples. MAstV5 wasdetected in 26% (71/269) of the samples. Interestingly, all MAstV5-positive samples derivedfrom dogs displaying clinical signs suggestive of gastroenteritis, other enteric viruses weresimultaneously detected (canine parvovirus, canine distemper virus, canine coronavirus,canine adenovirus and canine rotavirus). Based on genomic sequence analysis of MAstV5a novel classification of the species into four genotypes, MAstV5a-MAstV5d, is proposed.Phylogenetic analyses based on the ORF2 amino acid sequences, samples described hereingrouped into the putative genotype ‘a’ closed related with Chinese samples. Other studiesare required to attempt the clinical and antigenic implications of these astrovirus genotypesin dogs
