The pathogenesis of an enteric infection in pigs, experimentally induced by the coronavirus-like agent, CV 777

Abstract

Sixteen 2–3-days-old caesarean-derived, colostrum-deprived piglets were each dosed oro-nasally with 2 ml of a bacteria-free filtrate containing 10 4 pig-infectious-doses of CV 777. The piglets were killed at intervals of 12 to 120 h after infection. The coronvirus-like agent caused a local infection of the intestinal tract which resulted in villous atrophy, malabsorption and diarrhea. The pathogenesis of this infection was similar to that of transmissible gastroenteritis (TGE), a known coronaviral infection of pigs. However, where were some differences. By immunofluorescent staining, CV 777 antigens were not only detected in the epithelial cells covering the small intestinal villi, but also in the cells of the colonic surface epithelium. Occasional fluorescence was also seen in the small intestinal crypt epithelium, but the regenerative capacity of the crypts was not affected. The progress of intestinal epithelial cell infection by CV 777 was much slower than that in TGE, resulting in a longer incubation period and in less drastic epithelial cell destruction. The infection of regenerating cells occurred to a much higher degree during the late stage of a CV 777 infection than has been observed in TGE.