EVIDENCE OF SHEDDING OF PORCINE CIRCOVIRUS TYPE 2 (PCV2) IN BOAR SEMEN FOLLOWING EXPERIMENTAL INFECTION

摘要

Porcine circovirus (PCV) has been identified associated with a newly described condition in pigs, the postweaning multisystemic wasting syndrome, first identified in Western Canada. This new PCV, now called PCV type 2 (PCV2), is antigenically and genomically different from the previously known PCV now referred to as PCV1. The pathogenic role and modes of transmission of PCV2 are still unclear. Recent studies have demonstrated by PCR and serology that PCV2 rather than PCV1 appears to be the main typeof PCV circulating in the swine population. Since PCV2 has an affinity for cells of the mononuclear-phagocyte system and can be detected in many tissues and organs including serum following experimental infections and since PCV2 has recently been associated with reproductive problems it was of interest to determine if PCV2 could be found in the semen of infected boars.