Porcine circovirus type 2 infection before and during an outbreak of postweaning multisystemic wasting syndrome on a pig farm in the UK

摘要

Porcine circovirus type 2 (PCV-2) is the necessary agent of postweaning multisystemic wasting syndrome (PMWS), a disease that has had significant economic impact on the pig industry worldwide for over a decade. Despite various epidemiological and experimental studies, the pathogenesis of PMWS is still unclear. Various studies however, have indicated that PCV-2 is likely to interfere with the normal immune response. In addition, effects at the level of the litter and the sow have been reported, and there is evidence of an inverse relationship between mortality in piglets and the PCV-2 antibody titre of the sow at farrowing. Furthermore, pigs from PCV-2 viraemic sows have been found to be at a higher risk of death from PMWS. These studies indicate that the immune status or PCV-2 infection status of the sow is linked to the PCV-2 status of its offspring.