Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS) is a global viral swine disease causing significant economic loss to the pig industry worldwide (Neumann et al., 2005; Wensvoort et al., 1992). The pathogen PRRSV, belonging to the genus Porartevirus in the family Arteriviridae (Kuhn et al., 2016), has a genome that is approximately 15 kb in length, including at least 10 open reading frames (ORFs): ORF1a, 1b, 2a, 2b, 3, 4, 5a and 5-7 (Meulenberg et al., 1997). ORF1a and ORF1b encode pp1a and ppab, respectively, which are cleaved to produce 16 Nsps (non-structural proteins). Other ORFs encode the viral structural proteins GP2a, E,