News from American Swine Vet Association.
Three naturally occurring US PEDV strains have been identified: the original PEDV, the PEDV with changes in the spike gene (INDEL), and the PEDV strain (S2aadel) reported in this article. The role of genetic changes in the US PEDV strains to clinical disease has yet to be reported. The clinical presentation of diarrhea in this case was reported as equally or more severe than such presentation in cases caused by the prototype PEDV Colorado/2013. Other factors such as concurrent infections and the rate of group exposure, which is rapid in most PEDV cases affecting neonatal piglets, may influence the clinical presentation.
Documenting PEDV variation is vital to understanding the natural evolution of the virus and possibly identifying portions of the genome associated with different clinical disease features. Animal studies are required to define the effects of these mutations on clinical disease, pathogenesis, immunity; these studies will be conducted in the future with the S2aa-del strain. A consistent model to properly evaluate these differences is required to control PEDV infection. The most compelling need is to understand how exposure by sows to different PEDV strains correlates with protection of piglets from clinical disease. Whether the PEDV S2aa-del strain will circulate in the North American swine population is not known.
Douglas Marthaler, Laura Bruner, James Collins, and Kurt Rossow; Third Strain of Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea Virus, United States; Emerging Infectious Diseases; Vol. 20, No. 12, December 2014
Source: AASV