Spread of Aichivirus C to Major Pig Producing Regions of Brazil
BRAZIL - A study demonstrated that Aichivirus C has been present in Brazilian pig herds for years and has spread to the major pig-producing regions of the country.
14 August 2014
2 minute read
By: The aim of this study was to evaluate the frequency of Aichivirus C infection in the three major industrial pig-producing regions of Brazil.
This retrospective study evaluated 63 faecal samples that were collected between 2004 and 2011 from suckling piglets (one to three weeks old) belonging to 46 pig herds located in the South, Southeast and Central-west regions of Brazil.
The presence of Aichivirus C in the samples was evaluated by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction assay. A 216-bp fragment of the aichivirus RNA-dependent RNA polymerase gene was amplified from 48 out of 63 (76.2 per cent) faecal samples.
Aichivirus C was identified in all the evaluated regions, and variations in the frequency of virus detection among the different Brazilian regions were observed. Aichivirus C was detected at significantly higher rates in two-week-old (18/20; 90.0 per cent) and three-week-old (19/22; 86.4 per cent) piglets than in one-week-old piglets (11/21; 52.4 per cent) (P < 0.05).
The nucleotide sequences of three amplicons clustered together with other sequences previously isolated in Brazil, revealing that there were no phylogenetic differences in the strains of Aichivirus C by region or age.
