virulence – Swine in Minnesota

Is the 2020-21 PRRS a different one?

This is our Friday rubric: every week a new Science Page from the Bob Morrison’s Swine Health Monitoring Project. The previous editions of the science page are available on our website.

Key points

MSHMP data shows a slight lower PRRS incidence than in previous years
There has been PRRS outbreaks clustered in time and space in specific regions where the virus has generated important losses
PRRS prevalence has been at an all-time high, contributing to the general perception of a higher burden of PRRS

Streptococcus suis: predicting pathogenicity with virulence-associated genes?

A recent publication in Porcine Health Management by April Estrada, from the Gebhart lab at the University of Minnesota, proposes new virulence-associated genes to predict the pathogenicity of US Streptococcus suis. This project continues her previous work on the classification of US S. suis strains based on pathotypes.

Can 2 strains of PRRSv be highly homologous but have distinct virulence?

Key points

Two novel HP-PRRSV variants (XJ17-5 and JSTZ1712-12) that have the new genetic feature of 150-amino-acid deletion in nsp2 were identified.
Even though XJ17-5 and JSTZ1712-12 isolates share high genomic homology, they had distinct pathogenicity for piglets.
Fragment comparisons identified 34 amino acid differences between the two isolates which might be related to distinct virulence.