J Virol, May 1998, p. 3507-3511, Vol. 72, No. 5
Virology Unit, Department of Infectious
Diseases and Immunology, Veterinary Faculty, Utrecht University,
3584 CL Utrecht, The Netherlands
Received 29 September 1997/Accepted 23 January 1998
A porcine torovirus (PoTV) was identified and characterized; it is
a novel member of the genus Torovirus (family
Coronaviridae, order Nidovirales), closely
related to but clearly distinct from the already recognized equine
torovirus (ETV) and bovine torovirus (BoTV) representatives.
Immunoelectron microscopy of feces from piglets revealed elongated,
120- by 55-nm particles which were recognized by a torovirus-specific
antiserum. Amplification by reverse transcriptase (RT) PCR with primers
designed to detect conserved regions (on the basis of the
genomes of BoTV strain Breda and ETV strain Berne) resulted in the
identification of the 489-bp nucleocapsid gene, encoding a
18.7-kDa protein. The sequence identity in this region between PoTV
and both ETV and BoTV was only about 68%, whereas the latter two
show 81% identity. Neutralizing antibodies directed against ETV
were found in sera of adult and young pigs. In all 10 herds
sampled, seropositive animals were present, and 81% of
randomly selected adult sows possessed antibodies. A longitudinal study
with RT PCR showed that piglets shed virus in the feces for 1 or
more days, starting 4 to 14 days after weaning.
0022-538X/98/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1998, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
Identification and Characterization of a
Porcine Torovirus
*
Corresponding author. Mailing address: Virology Unit,
Department of Infectious Diseases and Immunology, Veterinary Faculty, Utrecht University, Yalelaan 1, 3584 CL Utrecht, The Netherlands. Phone: 31-30-2532485. Fax: 31-30-2536723. E-mail:
Egberink{at}vetmic.dgk.ruu.nl.
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