First report of Porcine teschovirus (PTV), Porcine sapelovirus (PSV) and Enterovirus G (EV-G) in pig herds of Brazil

Abstract

Porcine teschovirus (PTV), Porcine sapelovirus (PSV) and Enterovirus G (EV-G) have been associated with enteric, respiratory, reproductive and neurological disorders. Although Brazil is the world's fourth largest producer and exporter of pork, no information on the occurrence of PTV, PSV and EV-G infections is available for Brazilian pig herds. This study aimed to investigate the occurrence of Porcine enteric picornavirus infections in pig farms located in three distinct geographical regions of Brazil. Forty randomly selected diarrhoeic and normal consistency faeces of suckling (n = 22) and nursery (n = 18) pigs from farms located in 21 distinct cities of the Southern, Southeast, and Midwest regions of Brazil were evaluated by nested-RT-PCR assays. Suckling piglets presented the expected amplicon size for PTV (158bp) and EV-G (313bp) in single and mixed infections in 40.9% (9/22) of the faecal samples. PSV amplicon (212bp) was not detected in this age group. For nursery pigs, Porcine enteric picornaviruses amplicons were present in 77.8% (14/18) of the faecal samples. PTV and EV-G were detected in single and mixed infections, while PSV was detected only in two samples in co-infection with PTV and EV-G in this age group. The Brazilian regions evaluated presented at least two of the tested viruses. Sequencing analysis revealed high similarities to the related viruses (95.3 to 99.2% for PTV, 94.2 to 98.5% for PSV and 86 to 100% for EV-G). For the first time PTV, PSV and EV-G have been molecularly detected and characterised in pig faecal samples in Brazil.