Verification of natural infection of peridomestic rodents by PCV2 on commercial swine farms

Abstract

The porcine circovirus-2 (PCV2) is the main agent responsible for porcine circovirus associated diseases (PCVAD). Few studies have been done regarding PCV2 infection in other species. The purpose of this study was to investigate the occurrence of PCV2 infection in the peridomestic rodent species Mus musculus and Rattus rattus on commercial pig farms in Brazil. Immunohistochemistry assay demonstrated PCV2 in the spleen, lung and kidney. Viral DNA was detected in tissues by nested PCR assay. Partial sequences of PCV2 genomes detected in the rodents had strong identity with gene sequences of PCV2 isolates from pigs. These results show that the studied peridomestic rodent species can be naturally infected by PCV2. However, further studies are needed to confirm PCV2 transmission from rodents to pigs.

A wild circulation: High presence of Porcine circovirus 3 in different mammalian wild hosts and ticks

“…Even if the limited DNA amount hindered the whole genome sequencing of these strains, the genetic distance of their Rep sequences from those identified in wild boar excludes the occurrence of contamination events and supports an actual infection (Figure ). Even if the main host of porcine circoviruses is indubitably the Sus scrofa, PCV‐2 has been detected also in other species, including mice and ruminants (Halami et al., ; Kappe et al., ; Pinheiro et al., ). Similarly, PCV‐3 has been described in phylogenetically distant species, like dogs (Zhang et al., ), and an extremely closely related virus (i.e.…”

Reservoirs of Porcine Circoviruses: A Mini Review

“…In the study from Brazil, PCV2 antigen was identified in the spleen, lungs and kidneys of rodent species Mus musculus and Rattus rattus using immunohistochemistry assay (37). In addition, rodent-origin PCV2 genome sequences had remarkable similarity with gene sequences of PCV2 isolated from pigs (37,39). It is noteworthy that one recent study identified PCV3 in commercially sourced laboratory mice including BALB/c and ICR mice (40).…”

“…However, only a few studies have conformed PCV infection in field rodent samples. Since 2010, several research teams from Hungary, Brazil, Korea and China have provided molecular evidence of PCV2 in rodents circulating on swine farms (36)(37)(38)(39). In the study from Brazil, PCV2 antigen was identified in the spleen, lungs and kidneys of rodent species Mus musculus and Rattus rattus using immunohistochemistry assay (37).…”

“…Since 2010, several research teams from Hungary, Brazil, Korea and China have provided molecular evidence of PCV2 in rodents circulating on swine farms (36)(37)(38)(39). In the study from Brazil, PCV2 antigen was identified in the spleen, lungs and kidneys of rodent species Mus musculus and Rattus rattus using immunohistochemistry assay (37). In addition, rodent-origin PCV2 genome sequences had remarkable similarity with gene sequences of PCV2 isolated from pigs (37,39).…”

Reappearance of buffalo-origin-like porcine circovirus type 2 strains in swine herds in southern China

“…Possible cross-species transmission of PCV2 is reported in several previous studies [6], [8], [9], [10], [11], [12], [13], [14], which included pig–rodent transmission, pig–mink transmission, pig–human transmission and pig–insect transmission. In this study, we confirmed those buffalo-origin-like PCV2 strains in swine herds in southern China, which further supported the possible cross-species infection of PCV2 between buffalo and pig in this region.…”