Misleading results of the MboII-based identification of type 2a canine parvovirus strains from Hungary reacting as type 2c strains

Type 2 canine parvovirus (CPV2) infection is one of the most frequent causes of death in the young, susceptible canine populations worldwide. Since its emergence in the 1970s, several variants have been described. In the present study the authors describe the genetic analysis of 24 Hungarian CPV2 strains collected from 2004 to 2008. Surprisingly, the genetic and phylogenetic investigations of all these strains revealed that all of them were type 2a CPVs. On the other hand, the genetic analysis provided substantial evidence to demonstrate that due to a seemingly constant point mutation present in most of the Hungarian CPV2a strains, a previously described MboII-based rapid identification of CPV2c strains unfortunately cannot be reliably used any more.