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• A new virulent SVA strain was isolated and identified in Shandong province in China. • The isolate shares the highest sequence homology (98.52%) with strain USA-GBI26-2015. • The SVV-CH-SD strain can infect 30–100 day-old pigs, but only cause disease in 90–100-day-old pigs. Senecavirus A (SVA), previously called Seneca Valley virus, can cause vesicular lesions in sows and a sharp decline in neonatal piglet production. In this study, a SVA strain was isolated from a pig herd in Shandong Province in China and identified as SVV−CH-SD. The full genome was 7286 nucleotides (nt) in length and contained a single open reading frame (ORF) of 6546 nt, encoding a 2182 amino acid (aa). A phylogenetic analysis showed that the isolate shares highest sequence homology (98.52 %) with SVA strain USA-GBI26-2015. A genetic comparison of virulent and weakly virulent SVA strains showed that some amino acid residues may be associated with virulence. Animal challenge experiments showed that 90–100-day-old pigs inoculated with SVV−CH-SD intraorally and intranasally, intranasally, or intramuscularly developed low fever, blisters, and lameness. They had similar levels of neutralizing antibodies against SVA and viral loads in the serum and organs at 28 days post−CHallenge. However, 30–35- and 55–65-day-old pigs challenged with SVV−CH-SD showed no clinical signs, although anti-SVA neutralizing antibodies were detected. Our findings provide useful data for studying the pathogenesis and transmission of SVA in pigs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]