Identification of a novel Ungulate copiparvovirus 10 in sheep of Hami, East Xinjiang, China

<i>Parvovirinae</i> viruses are a subfamily of the <i>Parvoviridae</i> 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 <i>Copiparvovirus</i> and then provisionally designated "<i>Ungulate copiparvovirus 10</i>," because they are far distant from other 10 species in <i>Copiparvovirus</i> genus with 48.5%-72.8% homology identified. Phylogenetic analysis further confirmed the classification of the OVPVs as a new species in the genus <i>Copiparvovirus</i>.