First detection of NADC34-like PRRSV as a main epidemic strain on a
large farm in Heilongjiang Province, China
Abstract
Newly emerged sublineage 1.5 (NADC34-like) porcine reproductive and
respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) has posed a direct threat to the
Chinese pig industry since 2018. However, the prevalence and impact of
NADC34-like PRRSV on Chinese pig farms is unclear. In the present study,
we continuously monitored pathogens, including PRRSV, African swine
fever virus (AFSV), classical swine fever (CSFV), pseudorabies virus
(PRV) and porcine circovirus 2 (PCV2), on seven fattening pig farms with
strict biosecurity practices located in five provinces of China from
2020 to 2021. The results showed that multiple types of PRRSVs commonly
coexisted on a single pig farm. NADC30-like PRRSV was the predominant
strain on most pig farms. Importantly, NADC34-like PRRSV, detected
during the period of peak mortality, was one of the predominant strains
on one pig farm in northern China. Sequence alignment suggested that
these strains shared the same 100-aa deletion in the Nsp2 protein as
IA/2014/NADC34 isolated from the United States (U.S.) in 2014.
Phylogenetic analysis based on open reading frame 5 (ORF5) showed that
the genetic diversity of NADC34-like PRRSV on this farm was relatively
singular, but it had a relatively high rate of evolution. Restriction
fragment polymorphism pattern (RFLP) analysis showed that almost all
ORF5 RFLPs were 1-7-4, with one 1-4-4. In addition, two complete genomes
of NADC34-like PRRSVs were sequenced. Recombination analysis and
sequence alignment demonstrated that both viruses, with 98.9%
nucleotide similarity, were nonrecombinant viruses. This study reports
the prevalence and characteristics of NADC34-like PRRSV on a large-scale
breeding farm in northern China for the first time. These results will
help reveal the impact of NADC34-like PRRSV on Chinese pig farms and
provide a reference for detection and further prevention and control of
NADC34-like PRRSV.