First Evidence of Porcine Circovirus Type 2 (PCV‐2) Infection of Pigs in the Czech Republic by Semi‐Nested PCR

Three oligonucleotide primers for semi‐nested polymerase chain reaction (PCR) were designed according to already published sequences of porcine circovirus types 1 (PCV‐1) and 2 (PCV‐2) isolates. These primers were used to detect PCV‐2 DNA. A positive amplification reaction was visualized from a DNA suspension containing as few as 10 copies of virus DNA. In total, 77 samples of inguinal lymph nodes and nasal swabs from pigs in the Czech Republic were used to detect the virus. Thirty‐seven of them were positive for PCV‐2 DNA. In order to confirm specificity of the PCR reaction, seven DNA fragments were sequenced. Czech PCV sequences were found to have a 92–97% homology with other known PCV‐2 strains and only 80–83% homology with PCV‐1 strains.