Naturally Occurring Sheep-Associated Malignant Catarrhal Fever in North American Pigs

Abstract

Abstract. Two cases of sheep-associated malignant catarrhal fever (MCF) in pigs were diagnosed on a small farm in New York, and in Kentucky. In both cases, the initial diagnosis was based on histopathological changes representing typical lymphoproliferative vasculitis in multiple tissues of the affected pigs. Ovine herpesvirus 2 (OvHV-2) DNA was detected by polymerase chain reaction in the tissues of affected pigs in both cases. The amplified sequences were identical between the clinically affected pigs and the OvHV-2-infected sheep. Additional virological and bacteriological examination showed that the affected pigs were negative for agents that cause Aujeszky's disease, classical swine fever, porcine enterovirus, and rabies. An antibody against a conserved epitope among MCF viruses was detected in 1 clinically affected pig and 2 unaffected cohort pigs, as well as in all the associated sheep. To the authors' knowledge, this is the first report of porcine MCF in North America, and suggests that OvHV-2 is associated with clinical MCF in pigs.

The Pathology of Malignant Catarrhal Fever, With an Emphasis on Ovine Herpesvirus 2

“…1,2,81,150 An MCF-like syndrome was recognized recurrently in pigs in European countries as early as 1901, but confirmation was not possible before the early 1990s. 1 Pigs are similar to cattle in presenting with a head and eye form of MCF.…”

Diagnóstico de febre catarral maligna em bovinos do Uruguai

“…A febre catarral maligna (FCM) é uma enfermidade infecciosa, linfoproliferativa, pansistêmica, altamente letal, de distribuição mundial que afeta numerosas espécies de mamíferos do grupo Artiodactyla, incluindo bovinos, búfalos, bisontes, veados, antílopes, suínos e outros (Plowright et al 1960, Hänichen et al 1998, Schultheiss et al 2000, Barros et al 2006, Li et al 2006, Alcaraz et al 2009). É causada por vírus pertencentes ao gênero Macavirus, subfamília Gammaherpesvirinae da ordem Herpesvírus (Davison et al 2009).…”

“…É causada por vírus pertencentes ao gênero Macavirus, subfamília Gammaherpesvirinae da ordem Herpesvírus (Davison et al 2009). Atualmente existem nove espécies de vírus compondo esse grupo (Davison et al 2009), no entanto, estão associados a ocorrência da doença em bovinos o alcelaphine herpesvírus-1 e herpesvírus ovino tipo 2 (Alcaraz et al 2009, Davison et al 2009, Dewals et al 2011. Esses vírus têm hospedeiros imunologicamente adaptados, os quais não manifestam a enfermidade clínica, tornando-se portadores assintomáticos que desempenham um importante papel na transmissão do agente para espécies suscetíveis (Hüssy et al 2002).…”

“…No entanto, até o momento, não se tem realizado a identificação do agente causal. A detecção de OvHV-2 baseia-se em técnicas de amplificação de DNA (Li et al 2001, Hüssy et al 2002, Li et al 2004, Mendonça et al 2008, Alcaraz et al 2009.…”

Biochemical and proteomic investigation of bovine nasal secretion

“…Malignant catarrhal fever (MCF) is a generalized often fatal disease particularly in cattle, but also other ruminants including captive and farmed species of deer, antelope, water buffalo (Dettwiller et al, 2011), bison (Schultheiss et al 1998 andBerezowski et al 2005), and occasionally of domesticated pigs (Alcaraz et al, 2009 andGauger et al, 2010). Malignant catarrhal fever is caused by gamma-herpesviruses of the genus macavirus, including alcelaphine herpesvirus 1 (AlHV-1) and ovine herpesvirus 2 (OvHV-2) (Russell et al, 2009 andDavison et al, 2009).…”