Frequency of diarrhoea-associated viruses in swine of various ages in Hungary

Abstract

Enteric viral diseases of swine are one of the most frequent disorders causing huge economic losses in pork production. After the reappearance of an emerging enteropathogen, porcine epidemic diarrhoea virus (PEDV) in Hungary in 2016, an extensive survey was initiated in an attempt to identify diarrhoea-related porcine viruses, including adeno-, astro-, boca-, calici-, circo-, corona-, kobu-, rota- and Torque teno viruses. A total of 384 faecal samples collected during a twoyear period from diarrhoeic and asymptomatic pigs of various ages in 17 farms were screened by conventional and real-time PCR methods. Half of the samples contained at least one examined virus with the dominance of kobuvirus (55.1%) followed by bocaviruses (33.2%) and rotavirus groups A and C together (20.9%), while coronaviruses including PEDV were not found in this set of samples. Statistical analysis showed a highly significant difference (P < 0.0001) in the frequency of single infections compared to mixed ones with the exception of weaned pigs, in which group additionally most viruses were detected. The results of this study suggest that the complexity of this disease may vary with age, which makes the prevention of diarrhoea a challenge, especially in weaned pigs.