Seroprevalence of Porcine Circovirus-2 in Domestic Pigs (Sus Scrofa Domestica) in Latvia

Abstract

Abstract Porcine circovirus-2 (PCV2) is the primary agent of Postweaning Multisystemic Wasting Syndrome (PMWS), and is associated with Porcine Circovirus Associated Disease, which causes great economic losses in pig breeding. PCV2 infection is distributed worldwide throughout the domestic pig population. There have not been any investigations on the distribution of PCV2 sero-prevalence in the population of pigs in Latvia. However PCV2 is one of main differential infections for many diseases, and therefore it is very variable in clinical presentation of PMWS and other diseases associated with PCV2. The objective of this study was to investigate the seroprevalence of PCV2 in pigs of different-scale farms located in different regions of Latvia. Blood samples of 963 pigs from 58 different-scale farms were examined for the PCV2 antibody from 2006 to 2016. It can be suggested that PCV2 is widespread within the territory of Latvia. Farms with pig number of up to 10 and farms with more than 5000 animals have different levels of biosafety, housing conditions and herd management. Nevertheless, the study showed that the number of PCV2-seropositive animals is similar in all farms (from 70.0% to 79.7%).