Sequence-independent VIDISCA-454 technique to discover new viruses in canine livers

► The viral etiology of canine hepatitis I unknown. ► The sequence-independent Virus Discovery cDNA-amplified fragment length polymorphism, VIDISCA, was used. ► Combined with high through-put sequencing a virus was identified. ► Without prior knowledge of the viral species involved, the presence of CAV-1 was demonstrated.