Key result
Airborne contact with pigs from a PMWS-affected herd successfully induced clinical signs of PMWS, increased PCV2 load, and increased antibody titers in healthy pigs from a PMWS-free herd.
Why the study?
Does airborne contact with PMWS-affected pigs induce PMWS in healthy pigs?
Does airborne contact with PMWS-affected pigs induce PMWS in healthy pigs?
Porcine postweaning multisystemic wasting syndrome can be experimentally induced in healthy pigs via airborne transmission from affected pigs.
Experimental airborne PMWS induction in pigs extends transmission evidence; leaves open relevance to commercial biosecurity or interventions.
The objective of these studies was to investigate if porcine postweaning multisystemic wasting syndrome (PMWS) could be induced in healthy pigs following contact with air from pigs with clinical signs of PMWS. The pigs were housed in different units. Either 31 (study I) or 25 (study II) pigs with clinical symptoms of PMWS from a PMWS-affected herd and 25 healthy pigs from a PMWS-free, but PCV2-positive, herd were housed in unit A. Fifty pigs from a PMWS-free herd were housed in unit B, which were connected by pipes to unit A. In unit C, 30 pigs from a PMWS-free herd were housed as controls. In study II, the pigs in units A and B from the PMWS-free herd developed clinical signs of PMWS 2-3 weeks after arrival. PMWS was confirmed at necropsy and the diseased pigs had increased PCV2 load and increased antibody titers against PCV2 in serum that coincided with the development of clinical signs typical of PMWS. Sequence analysis revealed that the PCV2 isolate belonged to genotype 2b. In conclusion, the present study showed that PMWS can be induced in pigs from a PMWS-free herd by airborne contact with pigs from a PMWS-affected herd.
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Kristensen et al. (2013) studied Porcine postweaning multisystemic wasting syndrome (PMWS) (n=266). Airborne contact with pigs with clinical signs of PMWS vs. Housed in a separate, unconnected unit as controls was evaluated on Development of clinical signs of PMWS. Airborne contact with pigs from a PMWS-affected herd successfully induced clinical signs of PMWS, increased PCV2 load, and increased antibody titers in healthy pigs from a PMWS-free herd.
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