An evaluation of oropharyngeal swabbing as a diagnostic technique for the detection of porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) in weaned pigs

摘要

PRRS remains one of the most critically important reproductive and respiratory diseases in the swine industry today resulting in significant health and production losses.1 Currently, sow farm monitoring for PRRSv centers around wean pig diagnostic testing of various sample types including oral fluids, tissues, and serum, with serum being the most widely accepted sample type of choice in the industry. Oropharyngeal scrapings have been shown to be the superior method for ante-mortem detection of PRRSvin sows as it samples lymphoid tissue, the site of PRRSv persistence.2 However, this procedure is invasive, stressful, and impractical for wean pigs. The industry could benefit from a less invasive and time consuming method to detect PRRSv in wean pigs that still targets the tonsillar area. Oropharyngeal (OP) swabs have been used successfully to detect several swine pathogens including influenza A virus of swine (IAV-S),3 Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae? and Porcine Circovirus Type 2 (PCV-2).5 As many veterinarians monitor their sow herds for both PRRSv and IAV-S, a diagnostic sample that could be used to detect both viruses and enhance the ability to sequence positives would be a desirable tool to use for wean pig monitoring.