To investigate the prevalence of murine astrovirus (MuAstV) in mice in laboratory animal facilities in Japan, a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test targeting the RNA-dependentRNA polymerase (RdRP) gene was performed on the cecum contents of 1,212 mice (1,183 immunocompetent mice and 29 immunodeficient mice) from 226 facilities. The results showed that118 (52.2%) of the 226 facilities were positive for MuAstV. Out of the 1,212 mice, 424 (35.0%) were positive. No gross lesions were observed in any of the mice examined. Aphylogenetic analysis for 15 selected strains revealed that 13 strains formed one cluster, while two were genetically distant from that cluster. These results suggest that multiplestrains are prevalent in laboratory mice in Japan.
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