Abstract
Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) causes significant economic losses to the swine industry worldwide. Little is known regarding the epidemiology of this infection in tropical countries. To address this problem in Costa Rica, a seroepidemiological study was carried out in two phases. In the first phase, a pilot study was conducted in nine farms with the clinical diagnosis of PRRSV. In total, 265 pig serum samples were collected from animals ranging in age from 1 to 15 weeks of age. This study aimed to establish the duration of maternal immunity in piglets, to identify the period of viremia, and to determine when seroconversion occurs. In the second phase, a cross-sectional serology study was performed on a representative sample of the Costa Rican national herds in the second phase. The twenty-five selected farms represent all provinces and were classified according to herd size (100 to 2000 sows). In each farm, pigs aged 8, 10, and 12 weeks were sampled, as well as gilts based on the pilot study. In total 1281 pigs were sampled across all 25 farms. The aim of the cross-sectional study was to quantify the seroprevalence of PRRSV in Costa Rican pig farms and to describe its geographical distribution in this tropical country. The prevalence of positive farms was 44% (11/25), and these farms were located in six of the seven provinces of Costa Rica. Overall, 58% (344/596) of the pigs were seropositive to PRRSV. The age of the pigs and the ecozone where farms were located were significantly related with PRRSV seroprevalence in animals and herds, respectively.
Highlights
Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) is one of the most important pig pathogens worldwide from an economic perspective. Holtkamp et al (2010) calculated the costs associated with this disease to be around 663 million USD/year in the USA
This holds for Costa Rica, a tropical country located in Central America between Nicaragua and Panama, where PRRSV was first detected in 1996 but which has received little attention since
The results obtained in the first phase about the dynamic of PRRSV indicate that maternal immunity is prolonged up to 3 weeks of life, that viremia occurs in the period between 10 and 15 weeks of life, and that seroconversion occurs between weeks 10 and 15
Summary
Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) is one of the most important pig pathogens worldwide from an economic perspective. Holtkamp et al (2010) calculated the costs associated with this disease to be around 663 million USD/year in the USA. Some studies have been carried out to assess the PRRSV infection prevalence in Central America, México (Morilla et al, 2003), Colombia (Mogollón et al, 2006), Venezuela (Diaz, 2006), and the Dominican Republic,(Ventura et al, 2013), but there are no recent reports about the disease. This holds for Costa Rica, a tropical country located in Central America between Nicaragua and Panama, where PRRSV was first detected in 1996 but which has received little attention since
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