A Slaughterhouse Survey for Porcine Circovirus Type 2 in Commercial Pigs in Ibadan, Southwest Nigeria

Abstract

Porcine circovirus type 2 (PCV2) is recognized as one of the most important agents of reproductive disorders in gilts and sows worldwide. It is associated with considerable economic losses in the swine industry due to the unthriftiness, and variable morbidity and mortality it causes in pigs. In spite of the devastation caused by this virus to the global pig industry, there is little or no report of its occurrence in Nigeria. Hence, a slaughterhouse based survey was conducted to determine the prevalence of PCV2 infections in pigs in Ibadan, southwest Nigeria. Using a commercial ELISA kit, 364 pig sera collected from a major abattoir were screened for IgG antibodies against PCV2. The overall prevalence of anti-PCV2 antibodies in the pigs was 1.4 % (5/364), with more female pigs (4/237, 1.7 %) being seropositive than males (1/127, 0.8 %). Since there is no routine vaccination against this swine disease in Nigeria, thus the antibodies detected in the pig sera indicated a natural exposure to the virus. The absence of clinical disease in the pigs also suggests the possibility of a carrier status for these animals and shows that they could serve as hosts for the perpetuation of the disease. These findings underscore the need for continuous surveillance for PCV2 among pigs in Nigeria in order to determine its contribution to production losses incurred in the Nigerian swine industry and aid the development of prevention and control strategies against the disease.

Prevalence of Porcine Circovirus Type 2 in Naturally Infected Pigs in Abeokuta, Nigeria

“…A previous study on the prevalence of PCV2 conducted in Ibadan, Nigeria recorded a prevalence of 1.4 %, based on screening for IgG antibodies against PCV2 [3]. Hence, our study in Abeokuta complements the previous study and provides information on the detection and the prevalence of PCV2 viral DNA, which indicates that both PC- V2a and PCV2b are present in pigs in Nigeria.…”

“…PCV2 strains have been classified into four main genotypes (PCV2a, PCV2b, PCV2c, and PCV2d) based upon the phylogenetic analyses performed with their full genomes and ORF2 sequences [14,40]. A fifth genotype, PCV2e has also been identified in Mexico and USA [16], all of which have neither been detected nor identified in Nigeria, although anti-PCV2 antibodies have been detected in pig sera at a prevalence of 1.4 % [3].…”

Detección y caracterización del circovirus porcino tipo 2 (PCV2) circulante en cerdos de los departamentos de Tolima y Huila, Colombia

“…Adicionalmente, se considera que pese a encontrarse el PCV2 en plasma/suero y a través de las células sanguíneas, su predilección por replicación en macrófagos/ monocitos (Sun et al, 2016) hace más factible utilizar fracciones celulares para la detección de los antígenos virales. En el presente estudio, la presencia de animales positivos a PCV2 sin signos clínicos compatibles con circovirosis porcina sugiere la presencia de infecciones subclínicas o variaciones en la virulencia de las cepas infectantes (Larochelle et al, 2003;Aiki-Raji et al, 2018).…”

Regional Cross-Sectional Based Study and Associated Risk Factors of Porcine Circovirus 2 in Nigerian Pigs

“…In a cross-sectional survey across two southwestern states, 79.2% (89/111) of farmers interviewed were unaware of PCV2 [29]. It is, however, noteworthy that some recent studies have confirmed the presence of PCV2 in the Nigerian pigs [30][31][32], but those studies were limited regarding sample size and area of study coverage. These authors have recommended large-scale epidemiological surveys to understand its national prevalence.…”