Department for Pathobiology, Institute of Virology, University of Veterinary Medicine, Veterinaerplatz 1, 1210 Vienna, Austria.
University Clinic for Swine, Department for Farm Animals and Veterinary Public Health, University of Veterinary Medicine, Veterinaerplatz 1, 1210 Vienna, Austria.
Viruses. 2022 Feb 5;14(2):326. doi: 10.3390/v14020326.
Linda virus (LindaV) was first identified in a pig farm in Styria, Austria in 2015 and associated with congenital tremor (CT) type A-II in newborn piglets. Since then, only one more LindaV affected farm was retrospectively discovered 10 km away from the initially affected farm. Here, we report the recent outbreak of a novel LindaV strain in a farrow-to-finish farm in the federal state Carinthia, Austria. No connection between this farm and the previously affected farms could be discovered. The outbreak was characterized by severe CT cases in several litters and high preweaning mortality. A herd visit two months after the onset of clinical symptoms followed by a diagnostic workup revealed the presence of several viremic six-week-old nursery pigs. These animals shed large amounts of virus via feces and saliva, implying an important epidemiological role for within- and between-herd virus transmission. The novel LindaV strain was isolated and genetically characterized. The findings underline a low prevalence of LindaV in the Austrian pig population and highlight the threat when introduced into a pig herd. Furthermore, the results urge the need to better understand the routes of persistence and transmission of this enigmatic pestivirus in the pig population.
琳达病毒（LindaV）于 2015 年在奥地利施蒂里亚州的一个养猪场首次被发现，与新生仔猪的 A-II 型先天性震颤（CT）有关。此后，仅在距离最初受感染农场 10 公里的地方回溯发现了另一个受 LindaV 影响的农场。在这里，我们报告了奥地利卡林西亚联邦州一个育肥至出栏农场最近爆发的一种新型 LindaV 株。该农场与以前受影响的农场之间没有任何联系。疫情的特点是几窝仔猪出现严重的 CT 病例和较高的断奶前死亡率。临床症状出现两个月后进行的一次牧场访问和随后的诊断工作发现，有几头六周大的保育猪呈病毒血症。这些动物通过粪便和唾液大量排出病毒，这意味着在猪群内和猪群间传播病毒具有重要的流行病学作用。新型 LindaV 株被分离并进行了遗传特征分析。研究结果表明，LindaV 在奥地利猪群中的流行率较低，但当它被引入猪群时，会带来严重威胁。此外，这些结果还强调了有必要更好地了解这种神秘的瘟病毒在猪群中的持续存在和传播途径。
