Institute of Molecular Virology and Cell Biology, Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut, 17493, Greifswald- Insel Riems, Germany.
Berlin-Brandenburg State Laboratory, 15236, Frankfurt (Oder), Germany.
Virol J. 2023 Jun 1;20(1):110. doi: 10.1186/s12985-023-02074-3.
The high susceptibility of carnivores to Suid Alphaherpesvirus 1 [SuAHV1, synonymous pseudorabies virus (PrV)], renders them inadvertent sentinels for the possible occurrence of Aujeszky's disease (AD) in domestic and wild swine populations. The aim of this study was to epidemiologically analyse the occurrence of PrV infections in domestic and wild animals in Germany during the last three decades and to genetically characterise the causative PrV isolates.
PrV in dogs was detected using standard virological techniques including conventional and real time PCR, virus isolation or by immunohistochemistry. Available PrV isolates were characterized by partial sequencing of the open gC reading frame and the genetic traits were compared with those of archived PrV isolates from carnivores and domestic pigs from Germany before the elimination of AD in the domestic pig population.
During 1995 and 2022, a total of 38 cases of AD in carnivores, e.g. dogs and red foxes, were laboratory confirmed. Sequencing and subsequent phylogenetic analysis of PrV isolates established a strong connection between AD cases in carnivores and the occurrence of PrV infections in European wild boars in the end phase of and after elimination of AD from the domestic pig population. While PrV infections occur at low numbers but regularly in hunting dogs, interestingly, PrV was not observed in grey wolves in Germany. In none of 682 dead-found grey wolves and wolf-dog hybrids tested from Germany during 2006-2022 could PrV infection be detected by molecular means.
Although PrV has been eliminated from domestic pigs, spillover infections in domestic and wild carnivores should always be expected given the endemic presence of PrV in wild pig populations. Since detection of PrV DNA and virus in carnivores is sporadic even in areas with high seroprevalence of PrV in wild pigs, it may not reflect the full diversity of PrV.
由于肉食动物对猪α疱疹病毒 1（SuAHV1，同义伪狂犬病病毒（PrV））的高易感性，它们成为家猪和野猪群体中可能发生猪传染性脑脊髓炎（AD）的偶然哨兵。本研究的目的是分析过去三十年德国家养和野生动物中 PrV 感染的流行情况，并对致病的 PrV 分离株进行遗传特征分析。
使用包括常规和实时 PCR、病毒分离或免疫组织化学在内的标准病毒学技术检测犬中的 PrV。对可用的 PrV 分离株进行部分 gC 开放阅读框测序，并将遗传特征与德国消除 AD 前肉食动物和家猪的存档 PrV 分离株进行比较。
1995 年至 2022 年期间，实验室共确诊 38 例肉食动物（如犬和赤狐）的 AD 病例。对 PrV 分离株的测序和随后的系统发育分析表明，肉食动物中的 AD 病例与 AD 从家猪种群中消除后和消除期间欧洲野猪中 PrV 感染之间存在很强的联系。虽然 PrV 感染在狩猎犬中数量较少但很常见，但有趣的是，德国的灰狼中未观察到 PrV。在 2006-2022 年期间从德国送检的 682 只死亡的灰狼和狼-犬杂交种中，分子检测均未发现 PrV 感染。
尽管 PrV 已从家猪中消除，但鉴于 PrV 在野猪群体中的流行，家猪和野生肉食动物的溢出感染仍应始终预期。由于即使在野猪中 PrV 血清阳性率较高的地区，也会偶然检测到肉食动物中 PrV DNA 和病毒，因此它可能无法反映 PrV 的全部多样性。
