Abstract
Parvovirinae viruses are a subfamily of the Parvoviridae family that can infect various vertebrate hosts and cause infections ranging from asymptomatic to severe disease. This study performed a metagenomic assessment of the sheep sera virome to evaluate emerging and exotic viruses in border zones, and identified a novel copiparvovirus. The DNA of Ovine copiparvovirus (OVPV) was only observed in the serum of sheep in Dahe Town of Hami City. Furthermore, the region-dependent prevalence was 10.4% (96/807) from 2022 to 2024. The OVPV genome was 5,219 nucleotides (nt) long and shared 99.3% nt identity with two bovine parvovirus 2 SXO335parvoV2 and SXO338parvoV (GenBank accession numbers: MZ244302 and MZ244302), reported in the ticks collected from China. Comparison of NS1 protein showed that two OVPVs obtained in this study had 99.8%-99.9% amino acid homology with the tick-derived bovine parvoviruses, which had not been classified within the genus Copiparvovirus and then provisionally designated "Ungulate copiparvovirus 10," because they are far distant from other 10 species in Copiparvovirus genus with 48.5%-72.8% homology identified. Phylogenetic analysis further confirmed the classification of the OVPVs as a new species in the genus Copiparvovirus.