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National serosurvey of encephalomyocarditis virus in healthy people and pigs in China

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Abstract

Encephalomyocarditis virus (EMCV) is a zoonotic pathogen that has a wide spectrum of host range. The virus has been discovered on swine farms worldwide and can cause acute fatal myocarditis in piglets and reproductive disorders in sows. Although EMCV infection has been documented in farmed pigs in China, seroprevalence in humans has not been reported. In this study, we conducted nationwide serological surveys for EMCV in humans and farmed pigs in China in 2013, by the use of a double antigen sandwich ELISA method. A total of 3305 serum samples from healthy people were obtained from seven geographical regions in China, of which 1010 samples (30.56 %) were positive for EMCV antibodies. The overall seroprevalence for EMCV in the age groups of 0–20, 21–40, 41–60 and >60 years were 13.5 %, 30.25 %, 36.83 % and 38.71 % respectively, showing a tendency of increasing with age (P = 0.000). A total of 3470 serum samples from farmed pigs were collected and tested for antibodies to EMCV. A high seroprevalence of 77 % was recorded, and significant regional differences were observed. It was concluded that people and pigs in China were commonly infected by EMCV. In addition, in order to characterize changes of seroprevalence during natural EMCV infection in pigs, 240 serial serum samples were collected from 30 pigs (at 0, 15, 30, 60, 75, 90, 120, and 150 days of age) in a farrow-to-finish farm in China. The data showed that there were two EMCV antibody peaks: the first peak appeared at day 30, followed by a decrease in EMCV antibody titer, and the second occurred after day 75. Thus, the most susceptible period of pigs for EMCV infection was between day 30 and day 75 of age.

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Abbreviations

EMCV:

Encephalomyocarditis virus

ELISA:

Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay

NC:

North China

CC:

Central China

SWC:

Southwest China

SC:

South China

NEC:

Northeast China

EC:

East China

NWC:

Northwest China

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Acknowledgement

This work was supported by the Program for Changjiang Scholars and Innovative Research Team in University (IRT13091), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 31460665 and No. 31160033), and the Program for Innovative Research Team of SEAC ([2013]231).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Animal cell Engineering and Technology Research Center of Gansu, Northwest University for Nationalities, No.1 Xibeixincun, Lanzhou, 730030, China

    Ruofei Feng, Zilin Qiao, Mingsheng Li, Jialin Bai & Zhongren Ma

  2. The Key Bio-engineering and Technology Laboratory of SEAC, Northwest University For Nationalities, No.1 Xibeixincun, Lanzhou, 730030, People’s Republic of China

    Jia Wei, Haixia Zhang, Jingjing Fan, Xiangrong Li, Dan Wang & Jingying Xie

  3. School of Life Science and Bioengineering, Northwest University for Nationalities, No.1 Xibeixincun, Lanzhou, 730030, People’s Republic of China

    Jingying Xie

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  1. Ruofei Feng
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  2. Jia Wei
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  3. Haixia Zhang
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Correspondence to Zhongren Ma.

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Feng, R., Wei, J., Zhang, H. et al. National serosurvey of encephalomyocarditis virus in healthy people and pigs in China. Arch Virol 160, 2957–2964 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00705-015-2591-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00705-015-2591-z

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