Screening for Viruses in Indigenous Greek Black Pigs

Abstract

The successful advancement of xenotransplantation has led to the development of highly sensitive detection systems for the screening of potentially zoonotic viruses in donor pigs and preventing their transmission to the recipient. To validate these methods, genetically modified pigs generated for xenotransplantation, numerous minipigs and other pig breeds have been tested, thereby increasing our knowledge concerning the pig virome and the distribution of pig viruses. Of particular importance are the porcine cytomegalovirus, a porcine roseolovirus (PCMV/PRV) and the hepatitis E virus genotype 3 (HEV3). PCMV/PRV has been shown to reduce the survival time of pig transplants in non-human primates and was also transmitted in the first pig heart transplantation to a human patient. The main aim of this study was to determine the sensitivities of our methods to detect PCMV/PRV, HEV3, porcine lymphotropic herpesvirus-1 (PLHV-1), PLHV-2, PLHV-3, porcine circovirus 2 (PCV2), PCV3, PCV4 and porcine parvovirus 1 (PPV1) and to apply the methods to screen indigenous Greek black pigs. The high number of viruses found in these animals allowed for the evaluation of numerous detection methods. Since porcine endogenous retroviruses (PERVs) type A and B are integrated in the genome of all pigs, but PERV-C is not, the animals were screened for PERV-C and PERV-A/C. Our detection methods were sensitive and detected PCMV/PRV, PLHV-1, PLHV-1, PLHV-3, PVC3 and PERV-C in most animals. PPV1, HEV3, PCV4 and PERV-A/C were not detected. These data are of great interest since the animals are healthy and resistant to diseases.