Molecular characterization of the hemagglutinin-neuraminidase gene of porcine rubulavirus isolates associated with neurological disorders in fattening and adult pigs

Identification of Antigenic Variants of the Porcine Rubulavirus in Sera of Field Swine and their Seroprevalence

“…The estimated correlation among the isolates revealed an important and close antigenic relationship between PAC‐6/2001 and PAC‐9/2003. The relationship could be due to the similarity in the amino acid changes previously reported by our group; we compared 11 sequences of porcine rubulavirus isolates (PAC‐2/1990, PAC‐3/1992, PAC‐4/1993, PAC‐6/2001, PAC‐7/2002, PAC‐8/2002, PAC‐9/2003, CI, CII, CIII, and CIV) obtained over a 19‐year period using the LPMV sequence as the reference, and the resulting phylogenetic tree revealed that PAC‐6/2001 and PAC‐9/2003 belong to a viral subgroup that has evolved away from the original LPMV (Sánchez‐Betancourt et al., 2008). The similarities in the antibody response found for each of the viral isolates in the current study suggests a high specificity.…”

“…The previously sequenced and characterized porcine rubulavirus viral isolates used in this study were as follows: PAC‐4/199 (Michoacán/1993, GenBank accession number: ), PAC‐6/2001 (Jalisco/2001, GenBank accession number: ), and PAC‐9/2003 (Jalisco/2003, GenBank accession number: ). The isolates were obtained from the Departamento de Medicina y Zootecnia de Cerdos of the Facultad de Medicina Veterinaria y Zootecnia, UNAM (Sánchez‐Betancourt et al., 2008). The viral isolates were amplified in PK‐15 (porcine kidney) and VERO (African green monkey kidney) cells (Ramírez et al, 1997).…”

“…The PAC‐6/2001 (Jalisco/2001) isolate was originally obtained from a whole cycle farm where neurological symptoms were observed in both suckling pigs and fattening pigs. The PAC‐9/2003 (Jalisco/2003) isolate causes neurological symptoms in suckling and adult pigs (Sánchez‐Betancourt et al., 2008).…”

“…Other BED outbreaks have resulted in high rates of female infertility and severe lesions in the reproductive tract of adult males, including epididymitis and atrophy of the testis (Ramírez et al., 1997; Hernández‐Jáuregui et al., 2004). In the last decade, severe neurological symptoms have been observed in adult pigs infected with PoRV (Sánchez‐Betancourt et al., 2008).…”

“…Group 1 comprises LPMV and PAC‐4/1993; group 2 comprises PAC‐2/1990, PAC‐3/1992, and CI‐IV; and group 3 comprises PAC‐6/2001, PAC‐7/2002, PAC‐8/2002 and PAC‐9/2003. The groups are classified in this manner because of alterations in the amino acid sequence of the HN‐encoding gene, which confers virulence and is associated with clinical signs of neurological involvement in adult animals and in commercial fattening lines (Reyes‐Leyva et al., 2002; Sánchez‐Betancourt et al., 2008).…”