Acta Vet. Brno 2018, 87: 213-217
Histopathological and virological findings in emaciated pigs from Mexico: an exploratory study
The objective of this work was to detect the presence of three main pig respiratory viral agents (porcine rubulavirus [PorPV], porcine circovirus type 2 [PCV-2], and porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus [PRRSV]) in tissues of emaciated piglets from the Baj'o Region (Mexico). Necropsies and histopathological studies of 37 pigs with poor body condition were performed; viruses were detected by molecular biology methods and PCV-2 was further assessed by immunohistochemistry (IHC). Histopathologically, interstitial pneumonia was observed in 25/37 (68%) of the piglets. Also, a varying degree of lymphocyte depletion in lymphoid organs was found in 14/37 (38%) animals. Through polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and/or reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), from the 37 pigs, 16 were positive for PCV-2, 18 for PRRSV and 1 for PorPV. In accordance with these results, the infection and/or co-infection with PCV-2 and PRRSV were fairly frequent findings in piglets with poor body condition in Mexico, while the infection by PorPV was apparently negligible. Wasting of post-weaning piglets is a global pig farming problem that causes great economic losses and has been associated with diverse factors: microbial agents, environmental factors, nutritional factors, and management. When the Blue Eye Disease was first reported in Mexico, it was associated with severe wasting in post-weaning piglets. This study demonstrated that this disease does not seem to play such an important role in the wasting as was previously thought.
Keywords
Wasting, histopathology, porcine rubulavirus, porcine circovirus type 2, porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus, piglets.
Funding
The authors of this work acknowledge the funding of SIGI project No. 19144832016: "Identificación y caracterización de variantes genéticas y antigénicas del rubulavirus porcino; y caracterización de sus parámetros histopatológicos e inmunológicos", and partial funding by CONACyT.
