%0 Journal Article %A Chu, Lili %A Jin, Meiling %A Feng, Chonglun %A Wang, Xiaoyan %A Zhang, Dabing %T A highly divergent hepacivirus-like flavivirus in domestic ducks %D 2019 %J Journal of General Virology, %V 100 %N 8 %P 1234-1240 %@ 1465-2099 %R https://doi.org/10.1099/jgv.0.001298 %K flavivirus %K duck %K duck hepacivirus-like virus %K hepacivirus %I Microbiology Society, %X Using random amplification and reverse transcription-PCR, a novel RNA virus was detected in sera of domestic ducks. The full genome of the virus was determined for three strains, identifying the first hepacivirus-like flavivirus in birds. The virus, that we tentatively named duck hepacivirus-like virus (DuHV), possesses several unique molecular features, such as possession of the largest hepacivirus-like polyprotein gene and a Pegivirus A-like internal ribosome entry site. Sequence comparisons and phylogenetic and sliding-window analyses indicated that DuHV is most closely related to, but highly divergent from, the known hepaciviruses. DuHV was detected in 69.7 % of 185 serum samples from four duck species and in 31 of 33 flocks from five provinces of China, reflecting a high prevalence in duck populations and a wide geographical distribution. The detection of DuHV in the same flock in November 2018 and April 2019 suggested that persistent infection can be established in the infected ducks. %U https://www.microbiologyresearch.org/content/journal/jgv/10.1099/jgv.0.001298