Pseudorabies Virus: From Pathogenesis to Prevention Strategies

Abstract

Pseudorabies (PR), also called Aujeszky’s disease (AD), is a highly infectious viral disease which is caused by pseudorabies virus (PRV). It has been nearly 200 years since the first PR case occurred. Currently, the virus can infect human beings and various mammals, including pigs, sheep, dogs, rabbits, rodents, cattle and cats, and among them, pigs are the only natural host of PRV infection. PRV is characterized by reproductive failure in pregnant sows, nervous disorders in newborn piglets, and respiratory distress in growing pigs, resulting in serious economic losses to the pig industry worldwide. Due to the extensive application of the attenuated vaccine containing the Bartha-K61 strain, PR was well controlled. With the variation of PRV strain, PR re-emerged and rapidly spread in some countries, especially China. Although researchers have been committed to the design of diagnostic methods and the development of vaccines in recent years, PR is still an important infectious disease and is widely prevalent in the global pig industry. In this review, we introduce the structural composition and life cycle of PRV virions and then discuss the latest findings on PRV pathogenesis, following the molecular characteristic of PRV and the summary of existing diagnosis methods. Subsequently, we also focus on the latest clinical progress in the prevention and control of PRV infection via the development of vaccines, traditional herbal medicines and novel small RNAs. Lastly, we provide an outlook on PRV eradication.

Mutation and Interaction Analysis of the Glycoprotein D and L and Thymidine Kinase of Pseudorabies Virus

“…The glycoproteins of PRV are essential to the viral infection and play important roles in virus replication, such as entry, release, transmission, immunomodulation, etc. [ 3 , 7 , 13 , 15 ]. For example, during the entry process, the viral gC, gB, gD, gH, and gL participate in the entry and fusion processes [ 3 ].…”

“…PRV is an enveloped, linear double-stranded DNA virus belonging to the Varicellovirus genus in the Alphaherpesvirinae subfamily of the Herpesiviridae family [ 1 , 2 , 7 ]. The viral genome is about 145 kb, which encodes 70–100 proteins, mainly capsid proteins, envelope proteins, tegument proteins, and enzymes [ 7 ].…”

“…PRV is an enveloped, linear double-stranded DNA virus belonging to the Varicellovirus genus in the Alphaherpesvirinae subfamily of the Herpesiviridae family [ 1 , 2 , 7 ]. The viral genome is about 145 kb, which encodes 70–100 proteins, mainly capsid proteins, envelope proteins, tegument proteins, and enzymes [ 7 ]. Among these proteins, PRV thymidine kinase (TK), encoded by the viral UL23 gene, is the critical virulence factor of PRV, which is also participates in re-activating the virus from the latent period and the neuro-invasiveness of PRV [ 8 , 9 , 10 ].…”

Antiviral activity of dandelion aqueous extract against pseudorabies virus both in vitro and in vivo

“…The majority of non-porcine animal species infected with PRV will eventually die as a result of fatal PRV neurotoxicity ( 7 ). As a neurotropic virus, similar to other alphaherpesviruses, PRV can cause latent infections of the nervous system ( 8 ). Notably, PRV often serves as a vital model virus for virologists to study the cross-host transmission of viruses and their ability to cause nervous system damage ( 2 ).…”

“…of the nervous system (8). Notably, PRV often serves as a vital model virus for virologists to study the cross-host transmission of viruses and their ability to cause nervous system damage (2).…”