Porcine epidemic diarrhoea virus (PEDV) is one of the major pathogens causing acute enteritis, which is characterised by vomiting and watery diarrhoea and commonly leads to high rates of mortality and morbidity in suckling piglets. Chitosan has been regarded as a promising natural disinfectant. In this study, the disinfectant effect and mammalian-cell toxicity of chitosan were evaluated against PEDV using Vero cells. A 0.01% solution of chitosan was determined to be an effective disinfectant. In addition, no evidence of toxicity was observed during the cell toxicity test; on the contrary, chitosan promoted cell proliferation. In conclusion, chitosan is a promising candidate for an effective and safe disinfectant against PEDV as well as other coronaviruses.

New viruses are continuously emerging and recently there have been many great concerns on severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS‐CoV‐2). Nanographene oxide (nanoGO) has received much attention and is widely investigated to be utilised in therapy for infectious diseases by viruses. Thus, antiviral activity of nanoGO was evaluated using the porcine epidemic diarrhoea virus (PEDV), bovine coronavirus (BCoV), and SARS‐CoV‐2, which are all Alpha‐ and Beta‐coronavirus. In a virus inhibition assay, the three viruses were inhibited by nanoGO in a dose‐dependent manner, including attempts in the presence of high serum solution which partially mimicked biological fluid.

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Background Torque teno viruses (TTVs) have been detected worldwide, from a wide range of animals. Up to date, few studies focused on the prevalence of TTVs in general and swine torque teno viruses (TTSuVs) in particular in Korean swine farms. Objective This study aimed to investigate the appearance of TTSuVs and TTVs in sick pigs during the 2017–2018 period. Materials and Methods Molecular‐based method using TTSuV1‐, TTSuV2‐ and TTV3‐specific primers was used to screen for the viruses from either sera or pooled internal organs of sick pigs. For genetic characterization, genomic sequences of TTVs were sequenced by a primer walking method. Several bioinformatic tools have been utilized to investigate the genomic organization and genetic relationship of TTVs. Results Two years of prevalence survey reveal that the prevalence of TTSuV2 is about twice that of TTSuV1. Furthermore, we identified TTV of genogroup 3 in swine pooled organ samples. The genome of two strains, M265_Korea_2017 and N119_Korea_2018, are 3,817 bp in size; M265_2017 has three open reading frames (ORFs); and N119_2018 strain has four ORFs. The complete genome nucleotide sequencing of the two strains shows 98.4% homology, and the phylogenetic analysis of Open reading frame (ORF)1 indicates that the strains are located close to TUPB strain subgroup C of genogroup 3. Conclusion Our study provided the information of TTSuVs prevalence in swine farms in Korea and highlighted the presence of TTV genogroup 3 strains in pigs.

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