1. Outbreaks of Neuroinvasive Astrovirus Associated with Encephalomyelitis, Weakness, and Paralysis among Weaned Pigs, Hungary.
- Author
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Boros Á, Albert M, Pankovics P, Bíró H, Pesavento PA, Phan TG, Delwart E, and Reuter G
- Subjects
- Animals, Brain Stem pathology, Brain Stem virology, Cerebellum pathology, Cerebellum virology, Encephalomyelitis epidemiology, Encephalomyelitis pathology, Encephalomyelitis virology, Hungary epidemiology, Mamastrovirus classification, Mamastrovirus isolation & purification, Mamastrovirus pathogenicity, Open Reading Frames, Paraplegia epidemiology, Paraplegia pathology, Paraplegia virology, Phylogeny, RNA, Viral metabolism, Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction, Spinal Cord pathology, Spinal Cord virology, Swine, Swine Diseases pathology, Swine Diseases transmission, Swine Diseases virology, Viral Load, Viral Proteins metabolism, Weaning, Disease Outbreaks, Encephalomyelitis veterinary, Mamastrovirus genetics, Paraplegia veterinary, RNA, Viral genetics, Swine Diseases epidemiology, Viral Proteins genetics
- Abstract
A large, highly prolific swine farm in Hungary had a 2-year history of neurologic disease among newly weaned (25- to 35-day-old) pigs, with clinical signs of posterior paraplegia and a high mortality rate. Affected pigs that were necropsied had encephalomyelitis and neural necrosis. Porcine astrovirus type 3 was identified by reverse transcription PCR and in situ hybridization in brain and spinal cord samples in 6 animals from this farm. Among tissues tested by quantitative RT-PCR, the highest viral loads were detected in brain stem and spinal cord. Similar porcine astrovirus type 3 was also detected in archived brain and spinal cord samples from another 2 geographically distant farms. Viral RNA was predominantly restricted to neurons, particularly in the brain stem, cerebellum (Purkinje cells), and cervical spinal cord. Astrovirus was generally undetectable in feces but present in respiratory samples, indicating a possible respiratory infection. Astrovirus could cause common, neuroinvasive epidemic disease.
- Published
- 2017
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