Metagenomic Approach Reveals the Second Subtype of PRRSV-1 in a Pathogen Spectrum during a Clinical Outbreak with High Mortality in Western Siberia, Russia

Abstract

Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) has a significant economic impact on pig farming worldwide by causing reproductive problems and affecting the respiratory systems of swine. In Eastern Europe, PRRSV-1 strains are characterized by high genetic variability, and pathogenicity differs among all known subtypes. This case study describes the detection of a wide pathogen spectrum, including the second subtype PRRSV-1, with a high mortality rate among nursery piglets (23.8%). This study was conducted at a farrow-to-finish farm in the Western Siberia region of Russia. Clinical symptoms included apathy, sneezing, and an elevation in body temperature, and during the autopsy, degenerative lesions in different tissues were observed. Moreover, 1.5 percent of the affected animals displayed clinical signs of the central nervous system and were characterized by polyserositis. Nasal swabs from diseased piglets and various tissue swabs from deceased animals were studied. For diagnostics, the nanopore sequencing method was applied. All the samples tested positive for PRRSV, and a more detailed analysis defined it as a second subtype of PRRSV-1. The results, along with the clinical picture, showed a complex disease etiology with the dominant role of PRRSV-1 and were informative about the high pathogenicity of the subtype in question under field conditions.