Role of birds in transmission of classical swine fever virus

Active transmission of classical swine fever virus (CSFV) was studied in six birds (five ravens, one hooded crow) and two laying hens. Cloacal swabs, blood and organs of birds and hens as well as blood and organ samples of pigs which had been fed with faeces derived from CSFV infected birds or which had come in contact with faeces of infected hens were negative for CSFV. None of the animals seroconverted during the study. This result demonstrates that active virus transmission by these animals is unlikely. Dissemination of CSFV from wild boar to domestic pigs is discussed.     

An experimental infection (II) to investigate the importance of indirect classical swine fever virus transmission by excretions and secretions of infected weaner pigs

An experiment was set up to investigate the role of excretions and secretions in the indirect transmission of classical swine fever virus (CSFV). In five small pens, 10 weaner pigs (two pigs per pen) were housed and inoculated with CSFV. Experimental infection was successful in all pigs. The infected pigs were kept in the pens for a period of 15 days after which the pens were depopulated and pigs were killed. At the moment of depopulation, all inoculated pigs were visibly clinically diseased and had high fever. Ten hours later the same pens were repopulated with five pairs of susceptible pigs. From inoculation onwards and especially between depopulation and restocking, the pens were neither cleaned nor disinfected. Four days post-repopulation, three of the susceptible pigs were detected positive on virus isolation. A fourth pig was detected positive 2 days later. Later on, the remaining pigs also became infected, most probably due to contact and between pen infections. It can be concluded that transmission of the virus via excretions and secretions succeeded in four of 10 pigs. This result indicates that transmission of CSFV via excretions and secretions can be of importance in a late, clinical stage of disease.     

Efficacy of a live attenuated vaccine in classical swine fever virus postnatally persistently infected pigs

Classical swine fever (CSF) causes major losses in pig farming, with various degrees of disease severity. Efficient live attenuated vaccines against classical swine fever virus (CSFV) are used routinely in endemic countries. However, despite intensive vaccination programs in these areas for more than 20 years, CSF has not been eradicated. Molecular epidemiology studies in these regions suggests that the virus circulating in the field has evolved under the positive selection pressure exerted by the immune response to the vaccine, leading to new attenuated viral variants. Recent work by our group demonstrated that a high proportion of persistently infected piglets can be generated by early postnatal infection with low and moderately virulent CSFV strains. Here, we studied the immune response to a hog cholera lapinised virus vaccine (HCLV), C-strain, in six-week-old persistently infected pigs following post-natal infection. CSFV-negative pigs were vaccinated as controls. The humoral and interferon gamma responses as well as the CSFV RNA loads were monitored for 21 days post-vaccination. No vaccine viral RNA was detected in the serum samples and tonsils from CSFV postnatally persistently infected pigs for 21 days post-vaccination. Furthermore, no E2-specific antibody response or neutralising antibody titres were shown in CSFV persistently infected vaccinated animals. Likewise, no of IFN-gamma producing cell response against CSFV or PHA was observed. To our knowledge, this is the first report demonstrating the absence of a response to vaccination in CSFV persistently infected pigs.     

国外猪瘟病毒实验室诊断、流行病学以及标记疫苗研究进展

常用于检测猪瘟病毒的实验室诊断方法是免疫组化和病毒分离培养.随着分子生物学的发展,先后建立了一系列检测病毒蛋白的ELISA方法以及病毒基因组的RT-PCR方法.标记疫苗是目前猪瘟疫苗发展的趋势.目前已经完成E2亚单位标记疫苗及重组活疫苗效率的测定,均能显著减少疫苗免疫猪群中猪瘟病毒的水平及垂直传播,同时通过血清学方法能区分疫苗免疫猪与自然感染猪.标记疫苗的使用对于猪瘟的控制和消灭具有十分重要的意义.     

用RT-PCR技术检测盐渍猪肠衣中猪瘟病毒的研究

参考GenBank中发表的猪瘟病毒（CSFV）序列，设计一对CSFV特异性PCR引物；从CSFV感染猪盐渍小肠中提取总RNA，经逆转录后进行PCR扩增，在盐渍小肠中成功扩增出与预期大小（168bp）一致的特异性条带，而正常猪和感染猪伪狂犬病病毒的猪小肠扩增结果均为阴性。用本方法对20例不同稀释浓度的盐渍猪肠衣样本进行检测，结果显示比经典抗原检测方法（抗原捕获ELISA法）具有更高的敏感性。实验表明，本RT—PCR技术能应用于盐渍猪肠衣的CSFV检测，为快速、准确检测盐渍猪肠衣中CSFV提供了一条新途径。     

Limited BVDV transmission and full protection against CSFV transmission in pigs experimentally infected with BVDV type 1b

Bovine viral diarrhea virus (BVDV) in pigs may interfere with the detection and epidemiology of classical swine fever virus (CSFV). To investigate the importance of BVDV infections in pigs, first we studied the transmission dynamics of a recent BVDV field isolate. Subsequently, the protection of BVD antibodies against transmission and clinical disease of CSF virus was studied. Only limited transmission of BVDV occurred (R = 0.20), while no CSFV transmission occurred in pigs with BVDV antibodies. We concluded that BVDV transmission among pigs is possible, but seems to be limited and thus the virus should disappear from a population if no new introductions occur. Furthermore, the presence of BVD antibodies may completely prevent the transmission of CSFV and therefore could protect pigs against classical swine fever. It was also noticed that double infections with BVDV and CSFV were incorrectly diagnosed using the neutralization peroxidase linked assay (NPLA), which is the golden standard for antibody detection. This might hamper the diagnosis of CSF in herds with a high BVD prevalence.     

Classical swine fever (CSF) in wild boar: the role of the transplacental infection in the perpetuation of CSF

Thirty-four pregnant wild sows and their unborn progeny derived from an endemically infected population in the district of Nordvorpommern (Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania) were investigated for classical swine fever virus (CSFV) and antibodies. During the last 2.5 years of the epidemic, 20 out of 34 pregnant wild sows investigated were serologically positive. No CSFV or viral RNA was detected in organs derived from these animals and their progeny. This indicates that young wild boars persistently infected by transplacental virus transmission do not play a crucial role in the perpetuation of CSFV in wild boar. Other factors seem to be more important for the establishment of CSF as well as for virus perpetuation in the population.     

Evaluation of a multiplex real-time RT-PCR for quantitative and differential detection of wild-type viruses and C-strain vaccine of Classical swine fever virus

Classical swine fever virus (CSFV) is the causative agent of classical swine fever (CSF), one of OIE listed diseases. Most of the currently available detection methods do not allow discrimination between wild-type CSF viruses and the vaccine strains. This study was designed to develop a multiplex real-time RT-PCR for the quantitative and differential detection of wild-type viruses and C-strain vaccine widely used in China. CSFV specific primers and two differently labeled TaqMan probes for the differentiation of wild-type viruses from C-strain vaccine were designed in the 5'-untranslated region of the viral genome of CSFV. The two TaqMan probes specifically hybridize wild-type viruses of different subgroups and C-strain vaccine, respectively, in the multiplex real-time RT-PCR, with no cross-reaction to a number of non-CSFV porcine viruses. The sensitivity of the assay for detecting wild-type and C-strain-type vaccine viruses was determined to be 41.8 and 81.5copies/microL viral RNA, respectively. Completely correct differentiation of wild-type viruses from C-strain vaccine was achieved when testing reference strains and characterized field isolates of CSFV in China. The multiplex real-time RT-PCR was able to detect the viral RNA in the whole blood samples of experimentally infected pigs as early as 2 days post-infection, 3 to 4 days prior to the onset of clinical signs in co-housed pigs. The agreements between the multiplex real-time RT-PCR and a multiplex RT-nested PCR for detection of wild-type and C-strain-type viruses were 96.9% and 100%, respectively, when detecting 106 different field samples. There is a positive correlation between the titers of C-strain vaccines titrated in rabbits and RNA copies quantitated by the multiplex real-time RT-PCR. The novel assay described here is rapid and sensitive, and is useful for differentiating field strains and C-strain of CSFV in China.     

两种荧光定量PCR方法检测猪瘟病毒的比较及应用

根据猪瘟病毒（Classical swine fever virus,CSFV）5端非编码区保守区域,设计猪瘟病毒特异性的引物和探针,建立了基于SYBR Green和TaqMan探针的两种荧光定量PCR检测方法。灵敏性和特异性试验结果表明,两种方法能够特异性地检测出不同型的猪瘟病毒,而对同属的牛病毒性腹泻病病毒以及其它一些主要猪病病原检测结果均为阴性。两种方法对猪瘟病毒C株的检测下限均为101TCID50,均高于常规的套式PCR。用携带该基因片段的重组质粒为模板进行检测,SYBR Green方法的检测下限为3×100copies,比TaqMan探针方法更加灵敏（3×101copies）。应用建立的SYBR Green方法对2009年采集于浙江地区不同猪场的20份病猪样品进行CSFV检测,有8份样品为阳性,与套式PCR方法检测结果一致。进一步应用SYBR Green方法对不同感染阶段细胞内病毒RNA复制水平进行检测,与病毒滴度的结果基本一致。因此,本研究建立的SYBRGreen荧光定量PCR检测方法能够应用于组织和培养细胞中猪瘟病毒的检测。     

Localization of classical swine fever virus from chronically infected pigs by in situ hybridization and immunohistochemistry

Classical swine fever (CSF) virus (CSFV) nucleic acid and antigen were detected in 15 pigs with naturally occurring chronic CSF by in situ hybridization and immunohistochemistry. The most consistent and prominent microscopic lesions were perivascular mononuclear cell infiltration and gliosis in the central nervous system of pigs with chronic CSF. Positive cells typically exhibited a dark brown (in situ hybridization) or red (immunohistochemistry) reaction product in the cytoplasm without background staining. A positive signal for both in situ hybridization and immunohistochemistry was detected in mononuclear cells and lymphocytes of lymphoid tissues. Viral nucleic acid was detected in some tissue sections in the absence of viral antigen. The in situ hybridization technique developed in this study was useful for the detection of CSFV RNA in tissues taken from chronically infected pigs and may be a valuable technique for studying the pathogenesis of chronic CSFV infection.     

猪瘟病毒石门株NS3蛋白的原核表达及其抗体检测间接ELISA的建立

为配合猪瘟新型疫苗的研发,建立了猪瘟病毒NS3蛋白抗体检测间接ELISA,以期达到有效区分新型疫苗免疫猪与自然感染猪(包括常规疫苗接种猪)的目的。以接种猪瘟病毒(CSFV)石门株的PK-15细胞为模板提取总RNA,经特异性PCR扩增获得长度为2 049bp的CSFV NS3基因,将其克隆至插入了具有自聚集自切割功能短肽的原核表达载体pET-32a(+),在大肠埃希菌Rosetta(DE3)中优化表达CSFV石门株NS3基因。Western blot分析表明重组蛋白NS3具有反应原性。将纯化的重组蛋白NS3作为包被抗原建立检测CSFV NS3抗体的间接ELISA,以美国爱德士(Idexx)猪瘟病毒抗体检测试剂盒抗体检测结果为标准,对502份血清样品进行检测。结果表明,所建立方法的特异性为96.9%,敏感性为89.7%,总符合率为95.8%,为猪瘟新型疫苗的推广应用提供了血清学检测方法。     

Detection and quantification of classical swine fever virus in air samples originating from infected pigs and experimentally produced aerosols

During epidemics of classical swine fever (CSF), neighbourhood infections occurred where none of the 'traditional' routes of transmission like direct animal contact, swill feeding, transport contact or transmission by people could be identified. A hypothesized route of virus introduction for these herds was airborne transmission. In order to better understand this possible transmission route, we developed a method to detect and quantify classical swine fever virus (CSFV) in air samples using gelatine filters. The air samples were collected from CSFV-infected pigs after experimental aerosolization of the virus. Furthermore, we studied the viability of the virus with time in aerosolized state. Three strains of CSFV were aerosolized in an empty isolator and air samples were taken at different time intervals. The virus remained infective in aerosolized state for at least 30 min with half-life time values ranging from 4.5 to 15 min. During animal experiments, concentrations of 10(0.3)-10(1.6)TCID(50)/m(3) CSFV were detected in air samples originating from the air of the pig cages and 10(0.4)-10(4.0)TCID(50)/m(3) from the expired air of infected animals. This is the first study describing the isolation and quantification of CSFV from air samples originating from infected pigs and their cages, supporting previous findings that airborne transmission of CSF is feasible.     

用套式RT-PCR技术检测石蜡包埋组织中的猪瘟病毒RNA

利用套式反转录聚合酶链式反应(RT-PCR)技术,对实验性感染猪瘟病毒猪的福尔马林固定石蜡包埋组织标本中的病毒RNA进行检测,将所扩增产物点样于尼龙膜上进行Dot-blotting鉴定,扩增结果与各器官的病理组织学变化进行了比较。从攻毒对照组猪的肝脏、脾脏、肾脏、淋巴结和扁桃体中检出了猪瘟病毒RNA,未从免疫攻毒猪只的脏器中检出猪瘟病毒RNA;所有扩增产物经Dot-blotting鉴定均得到了阳性信号;病毒基因的检出率与猪瘟病毒导致的病理组织学变化程度相一致。本试验成功建立了套式RT-PCR技术检测石蜡包埋组织中的猪瘟病毒RNA方法,为猪瘟病毒的诊断和回顾性分析提供了技术手段。     

The reduction of CSFV transmission to untreated pigs by the pestivirus inhibitor BPIP: A proof of concept

5-[(4-Bromophenyl)methyl]-2-phenyl-5H-imidazo[4,5-c]pyridine (BPIP) is a representative molecule of a novel class of highly active in vitro inhibitors of the replication of Classical swine fever virus (CSFV). We recently demonstrated in a proof of concept study that the molecule has a marked effect on viral replication in CSFV-infected pigs. Here, the effect of antiviral treatment on virus transmission to untreated sentinel pigs was studied. Therefore, BPIP-treated pigs (n = 4), intra-muscularly infected with CSFV, were placed into contact with untreated sentinel pigs (n = 4). Efficient transmission of CSFV from four untreated seeder pigs to four untreated sentinels was observed. In contrast, only two out of four sentinel animals in contact with BPIP-treated seeder animals developed a short transient infection, of which one was likely the result of sentinel to sentinel transmission. A significant lower viral genome load was measured in tonsils of sentinels in contact with BPIP-treated seeder animals compared to the positive control group (p = 0.015). Although no significant difference (p = 0.126) in the time of onset of viraemia could be detected between the groups of contact animals, a tendency towards the reduction of virus transmission was observed. Since sentinel animals were left untreated in this exploratory trial, the study can be regarded as a worst case scenario and gives therefore an underestimation of the potential efficacy of the activity of BPIP on virus transmission.     

Development of a classical swine fever subunit marker vaccine and companion diagnostic test

The development of a classical swine fever (CSF) subunit marker vaccine, based on viral envelope glycoprotein E2, and a companion diagnostic test, based on a second viral envelope glycoprotein E(RNS), will be described. Important properties of the vaccine, such as onset and duration of immunity, and prevention of horizontal and vertical transmission of virus were evaluated. A single dose of the vaccine protected pigs against clinical signs of CSF, following intranasal challenge with 100LD(50) of virulent classical swine fever virus (CSFV) at 2 weeks after vaccination. However, challenge virus transmission to unvaccinated sentinels was not always completely inhibited at this time point. From 3 weeks up to 6 months after vaccination, pigs were protected against clinical signs of CSF, and no longer transmitted challenge virus to unvaccinated sentinels. In contrast, unvaccinated control pigs died within 2 weeks after challenge. We also evaluated transmission of challenge virus in a setup enabling determination of the reproduction ratio (R value) of the virus. In such an experiment, transmission of challenge virus is determined in a fully vaccinated population at different time points after vaccination. Pigs challenged at 1 week after immunization died of CSF, whereas the vaccinated sentinels became infected, seroconverted for E(RNS) antibodies, but survived. At 2 weeks after vaccination, the challenged pigs seroconverted for E(RNS) antibodies, but none of the vaccinated sentinels did. Thus, at 1 week after vaccination, R1, and at 2 weeks, R=0, implying no control or control of an outbreak, respectively. Vertical transmission of CSFV to the immune-incompetent fetus may lead to the birth of highly viraemic, persistently infected piglets which are one of the major sources of virus spread. Protection against transplacental transmission of CSFV in vaccinated sows was, therefore, tested in once and twice vaccinated sows. Only one out of nine once-vaccinated sows transmitted challenge virus to the fetus, whereas none of the nine twice-vaccinated sows did. Finally, our data show that the E(RNS) test detects CSFV-specific antibodies in vaccinated or unvaccinated pigs as early as 14 days after infection with a virulent CSF strain. This indicates that the E2 vaccine and companion test fully comply with the marker vaccine concept. This concept implies the possibility of detecting infected animals within a vaccinated population.     

Evaluation of the epidemiological importance of classical swine fever infected, E2 sub-unit marker vaccinated animals with RT-nPCR positive blood samples

It has been demonstrated that pigs that have been double vaccinated with an E2 sub-unit marker vaccine and that are infected with classical swine fever virus (CSFV) through a natural contact infection may react positive in a CSFV detecting RT-nPCR test, whereas no virus could be isolated by using the conventional virus isolation (VI) technique. To evaluate whether these vaccinated and infected pigs may spread the virus, three experiments were set up. In the first, susceptible pigs were inoculated with serum originating from vaccinated RT-nPCR positive pigs. In the second, vaccinated RT-nPCR positive pigs were brought into contact with sentinel animals. In the third, vertical transmission was evaluated in RT-nPCR positive vaccinated pregnant gilts. In the first two experiments, no proof of virus transmission was found, whereas in the third vertical transmission was observed. The conclusion is that in vaccinated pigs that are positive in RT-nPCR but negative in VI, the level of circulating virus is probably not high enough for horizontal transmission, whereas vertical transmission of the virus is possible.     

猪瘟病毒巢式RT-PCR检测方法的建立与应用

为建立一种快速、特异、灵敏的检测猪瘟病毒（classical swine fever virus,CSFV）巢式RT-PCR（nested RT-PCR）方法,本研究参照GenBank中公布的CSFV E2基因保守区域序列设计2对特异性引物,以CSFV总RNA为模板,优化反应条件,建立CSFV nested RT-PCR方法,对其进行特异性、敏感性和重复性试验;利用所建立的方法对35份临床疑似CSFV感染样品进行了应用检测,并对阳性PCR产物进行克隆测序鉴定。结果表明,本研究成功建立了CSFV nested RT-PCR检测方法,能够特异性地扩增CSFV,但对ST正常细胞对照和其他8种病原对照未扩增出任何条带;稳定性和重复性好;敏感性高,最低检测病毒含量为1 TCID₅₀;自35份疑似CSFV感染样品中检出19份阳性样品,PCR阳性产物克隆测序结果表明均为CSFV E2基因片段。本研究成功建立了CSFV nested RT-PCR检测方法,可用于CSFV的快速检测,为CSF的早期检测诊断提供了特异、灵敏的方法。