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Summary: Porcine deltacoronavirus (PDCoV) is a recently identified coronavirus in the genus Deltacoronavirus that can cause enteric disease with clinical signs including diarrhoea, vomiting, dehydration and mortality in neonatal piglets. Although evidence of the prevalence of PDCoV in China is accumulating, little published information about Chinese PDCoV isolates is available. In this study, we investigated the presence of PDCoV in 49 faecal/intestinal samples from piglets with diarrhoea on different farms in Hebei province. Five samples (10.2%) were positive for PDCoV, but no coinfection of PDCoV with other enteropathogens was observed. A PDCoV strain named HB‐BD was successfully isolated from the intestinal contents of a diarrhoeic piglet and serially propagated in swine testicular (ST) cells for >40 passages. The complete genome of the HB‐BD strain was sequenced and analysed. Genomic analysis showed that the HB‐BD strain had a closer relationship with Chinese strains than those from other countries and was grouped within the Chinese PDCoV cluster. The results of this study will be valuable for further research of PDCoV genetic evolution and development of effective diagnostic reagents, assays and potential vaccines against newly emerged PDCoV strains. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective – To determine the prevalence of dementia and Alzheimer's disease (AD) in rural China. Methods – A cross-sectional study was conducted within a cohort of adults older than 50 years of age in Linxian County, China. A Chinese version of the Mini-Mental State Examination (CMMSE) was used to screen cases of possible dementia. Three different cutoff points on CMMSE were applied depending on the participant's level of education. The participants then were given psychiatric interviews, medical and neurological examinations, and psychometric tests to ascertain the clinical diagnoses of dementia and AD. Results – Among the 16,095 participants, 5.26% were screened positive with 374 diagnosed as having dementia. Among them, AD accounted for 80.5%. The adjusted prevalence rates were 0.33%, 0.89%, 3.43%, and 8.19% in people in age groups 50–54, 55–64, 65–74, and 75 and above, respectively. The prevalence of AD correlated with the participant's level of education, and was 2.61%, 0.94%, and 0.56% in the illiterate group, in the primary school group, and in the middle school or higher group, respectively. Adjusted by education levels a higher prevalence in women was observed in the illiterate group. Conclusions – The prevalence of dementia in this population is similar to that reported from other areas in mainland China and Taiwan with aging being a significant risk factor. After controlling for age, being a female and having received less number of years of education were associated with an higher prevalence of AD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Zhang L, Nie ZY, Liu Y, Chen W, Xin SM, Sun XD, Fan JH, Liu YH, Gao XH, Lu LQ, Como P, McDermott MP, Qiao YL, Kieburtz K. The prevalence of PD in a nutritionally deficient rural population in China.Acta Neurol Scand 2005: 112: 29–35.© Blackwell Munksgaard 2005.In most reports, the prevalence of PD in mainland China is lower than in western populations. To estimate PD prevalence in China, we performed a cross-sectional study in a rural population in Linxian County, China.Clinical diagnosis of PD.Among the 16,488 participants examined, the overall age- and gender-adjusted prevalence rate of PD was 522/100,000 (95% CI: 477–567) assuming no cases of PD would be found among those younger than 50 years of age. The gender-adjusted prevalence rates were 103 (95% CI: 83–123), 621 (95% CI: 572–670), 902 (95% CI: 843–961), and 1744 (95% CI: 1662–1826) per 100,000 in age groups 50–59, 60–69, 70–79, and 80 and above, respectively.The estimated prevalence of PD in Linxian, China is higher than most of those reported from other areas in China, and similar to those reported from non-Asian populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]