Porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV) was identified in the United States (U.S.) swine population for the first time in April 2013 and rapidly spread nationwide. However, no information has been ...published regarding the minimum infectious dose (MID) of PEDV in different pig models. The main objective of this study was to determine the oral minimum infectious dose of PEDV in naïve conventional neonatal piglets and weaned pigs. A U.S. virulent PEDV prototype isolate (USA/IN19338/2013) with known infectious titer was serially ten-fold diluted in virus-negative cell culture medium. Dilutions with theoretical infectious titers from 560 to 0.0056 TCID50/ml together with a medium control were orogastrically inoculated (10ml/pig) into 7 groups of 5-day-old neonatal pigs (n = 4 per group) and 7 groups of 21-day-old weaned pigs (n = 6 per group). In 5-day-old pigs, 10ml of inoculum having titers 560-0.056 TCID50/ml, corresponding to polymerase chain reaction (PCR) cycle threshold (Ct) values 24.2-37.6, resulted in 100% infection in each group; 10ml of inoculum with titer 0.0056 TCID50/ml (Ct>45) caused infection in 25% of the inoculated pigs. In 21-day-old pigs, 10ml of inoculum with titers 560-5.6 TCID50/ml (Ct 24.2-31.4) resulted in 100% infection in each group while 10ml of inoculum with titers 0.56-0.0056 TCID50/ml (Ct values 35.3 ->45) did not establish infection in any pigs under study conditions as determined by clinical signs, PCR, histopathology, immunohistochemistry, and antibody response. These data reveal that PEDV infectious dose is age-dependent with a significantly lower MID for neonatal pigs compared to weaned pigs. This information should be taken into consideration when interpreting clinical relevance of PEDV PCR results and when designing a PEDV bioassay model. The observation of such a low MID in neonates also emphasizes the importance of strict biosecurity and thorough cleaning/disinfection on sow farms.
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DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
We isolated and plaque purified IA76950-WT and IA70388-R, 2 porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome viruses from pigs in the same herd in Iowa, USA, that exhibited coughing and had interstitial ...pneumonia. Phylogenetic and molecular evolutionary analysis indicated that IA70388-R is a natural recombinant from Fostera PRRSV vaccine and field strain IA76950-WT.
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DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, ODKLJ, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Abstract Porcine deltacoronavirus (PDCoV) was first identified in Hong Kong in 2009–2010 and reported in United States swine for the first time in February 2014. However, diagnostic tools other than ...polymerase chain reaction for PDCoV detection were lacking and Koch׳s postulates had not been fulfilled to confirm the pathogenic potential of PDCoV. In the present study, PDCoV peptide-specific rabbit antisera were developed and used in immunofluorescence and immunohistochemistry assays to assist PDCoV diagnostics. The pathogenicity and pathogenesis of PDCoV was investigated following orogastric inoculation of 5-day-old piglets with a plaque-purified PDCoV cell culture isolate (3×104 TCID50 per pig). The PDCoV-inoculated piglets developed mild to moderate diarrhea, shed increasing amount of virus in rectal swabs from 2 to 7 days post inoculation, and developed macroscopic and microscopic lesions in small intestines with viral antigen confirmed by immunohistochemistry staining. This study experimentally confirmed PDCoV pathogenicity and characterized PDCoV pathogenesis in neonatal piglets.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
At least two genetically different porcine epidemic diarrhoea virus (PEDV) strains have been identified in the USA: US PEDV prototype and S-INDEL-variant strains. The objective of this study was to ...compare the pathogenicity differences of the US PEDV prototype and S-INDEL-variant strains in conventional neonatal piglets under experimental infections. Fifty PEDV-negative 5-day-old pigs were divided into five groups of ten pigs each and were inoculated orogastrically with three US PEDV prototype isolates (IN19338/2013, NC35140/2013 and NC49469/2013), an S-INDEL-variant isolate (IL20697/2014), and virus-negative culture medium, respectively, with virus titres of 104 TCID50 ml- 1, 10 ml per pig. All three PEDV prototype isolates tested in this study, regardless of their phylogenetic clades, had similar pathogenicity and caused severe enteric disease in 5-day-old pigs as evidenced by clinical signs, faecal virus shedding, and gross and histopathological lesions. Compared with pigs inoculated with the three US PEDV prototype isolates, pigs inoculated with the S-INDEL-variant isolate had significantly diminished clinical signs, virus shedding in faeces, gross lesions in small intestines, caeca and colons, histopathological lesions in small intestines, and immunohistochemistry staining in ileum. However, the US PEDV prototype and the S-INDEL-variant strains induced similar viraemia levels in inoculated pigs. Whole genome sequences of the PEDV prototype and S-INDEL-variant strains were determined, but the molecular basis of virulence differences between these PEDV strains remains to be elucidated using a reverse genetics approach.
During the 10 days commencing April 29, 2013, the Iowa State University Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory received the first 4 of many submissions from swine farms experiencing explosive epidemics of ...diarrhea and vomiting affecting all ages, with 90–95% mortality in suckling pigs. Histology revealed severe atrophy of villi in all segments of the small intestines with occasional villus-epithelial syncytial cells, but testing for rotaviruses and Transmissible gastroenteritis virus (Alphacoronavirus 1) were negative. Negative-staining electron microscopy of feces revealed coronavirus-like particles and a pan-coronavirus polymerase chain reaction (PCR) designed to amplify a conserved region of the polymerase gene for all members in the family Coronaviridae produced expected 251-bp amplicons. Subsequent sequencing and analysis revealed 99.6–100% identity among the PCR amplicons from the 4 farms and 97–99% identity to the corresponding portion of the polymerase gene of Porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV) strains, with the highest identity (99%) to strains from China in 2012. Findings were corroborated at National Veterinary Services Laboratories using 2 nested S-gene and 1 nested N-gene PCR tests where the sequenced amplicons also had the highest identity with 2012 China strains. Whole genome sequence for the virus from 2 farms in 2 different states using next-generation sequencing technique was compared to PEDV sequences available in GenBank. The 2013 U.S. PEDV had 96.6–99.5% identity with all known PEDV strains and the highest identity (>99.0%) to some of the 2011–2012 Chinese strains. The nearly simultaneous outbreaks of disease, and high degree of homology (99.6–100%) between the PEDV strains from the 4 unrelated farms, suggests a common source of virus.
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NUK, OILJ, SAZU, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Diet has been implicated as a major factor impacting clinical disease expression of swine dysentery and Brachyspira hyodysenteriae colonization. However, the impact of diet on novel pathogenic ...strongly beta-hemolytic Brachyspira spp. including "B. hampsonii" has yet to be investigated. In recent years, distillers dried grains with solubles (DDGS), a source of insoluble dietary fiber, has been increasingly included in diets of swine. A randomized complete block experiment was used to examine the effect of increased dietary fiber through the feeding of DDGS on the incidence of Brachyspira-associated colitis in pigs. One hundred 4-week-old pigs were divided into five groups based upon inocula (negative control, Brachyspira intermedia, Brachyspira pilosicoli, B. hyodysenteriae or "B. hampsonii") and fed one of two diets containing no (diet 1) or 30% (diet 2) DDGS. The average days to first positive culture and days post inoculation to the onset of clinical dysentery in the B. hyodysenteriae groups was significantly shorter for diet 2 when compared to diet 1 (P = 0.04 and P = 0.0009, respectively). A similar difference in the average days to first positive culture and days post inoculation to the onset of clinical dysentery was found when comparing the "B. hampsonii" groups. In this study, pigs receiving 30% DDGS shed on average one day prior to and developed swine dysentery nearly twice as fast as pigs receiving 0% DDGS. Accordingly, these data suggest a reduction in insoluble fiber through reducing or eliminating DDGS in swine rations should be considered an integral part of any effective disease elimination strategy for swine dysentery.
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DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Porcine circovirus type 2 (PCV2) can be vertically transmitted resulting in fetal infection with or without clinical signs and lesions. The primary objective of this study was to assess the ...prevalence of intrauterine PCV2 infection in clinically normal newborn piglets in conventional pork production facilities. Five commercial breeding herds located in the U.S. and Mexico were included in the study. A total of 125 sows and 3–5 neonatal piglets per sow were arbitrarily selected. Blood and colostrum samples were collected from sows. Blood was collected from piglets prior to suckling. All samples were analyzed for the presence of anti-PCV2 IgG antibodies and presence and amount of PCV2 DNA. In addition, PCV2 DNA positive samples were further subtyped into PCV2a and PCV2b. All (125/125) sow colostrum samples and 96.8% (121/125) of the sow serum samples and 21.4% (107/499) of the piglet pre-suckle serum samples were positive for anti-PCV2 IgG antibody. The overall PCV2 DNA prevalence was 47.2% (59/125) in sow serum, 40.8% (51/125) in sow colostrum, and 39.9% (199/499) in pre-suckle piglet serum. In the PCV2 DNA positive samples, PCV2b was detected at a higher frequency (69.5% for sow serum, 84.3% for sow colostrum, and 74.4% for piglet serum) compared to PCV2a (18.6% for sow serum, 9.8% for sow colostrum, and 15.6% for piglet serum). Concurrent PCV2a and PCV2b infection was detected in 11.9% of the sow serum, in 5.9% of the colostrum samples, and in 10.0% of the piglet serum samples. In conclusion, an unexpectedly high prevalence of PCV2 viremia was detected in healthy sows (serum and colostrum) and their pre-suckle piglets in the five breeding herds investigated and PCV2b was more prevalent than PCV2a. This information adds to the knowledge of PCV2 infection in breeding herds.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UL, UM, UPUK
We determined tissue localization, shedding patterns, virus carriage, antibody response, and aerosol transmission of Porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV) following inoculation of 4-week-old feeder ...pigs. Thirty-three pigs were randomly assigned to 1 of 3 groups for the 42-day study: inoculated (group A; n = 23), contact transmission (group B; n = 5), and aerosol transmission (group C; n = 5). Contact transmission occurred rapidly to group B pigs whereas productive aerosol transmission failed to occur to group C pigs. Emesis was the first clinical sign noted at 3 days postinoculation (dpi) followed by mild to moderate diarrhea lasting 5 more days. Real-time PCR detected PEDV in fecal and nasal swabs, oral fluids, serum, and gastrointestinal and lymphoid tissues. Shedding occurred primarily during the first 2 weeks postinoculation, peaking at 5–6 dpi; however, some pigs had PEDV nucleic acid detected in swabs collected at 21 and 28 dpi. Antibody titers were measurable between 14 and 42 dpi. Although feces and intestines collected at 42 dpi were PEDV negative by PCR and immunohistochemistry, respectively, small intestines from 70% of group A pigs were PCR positive. Although disease was relatively mild and transient in this age group, the results demonstrate that 4-week-old pigs are productively infected and can sustain virus replication for several weeks. Long-term shedding of PEDV in subclinically affected pigs should be considered an important source for PEDV transmission.
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NUK, OILJ, SAZU, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK