2.4 Pseudorabies Virus
Pseudorabies virus (Suid herpesvirus 1 or PRV) is a member of the genusVaricellovirus , and the family Herpesviridae (Peng et al.,
2016). PRV is the major causative agent of Aujeszky’s disease and
contributes to the substantial economic losses in swine production
(Freuling, Muller, & Mettenleiter, 2017).
PRV always targets the
mucosal
epithelium of the pig respiratory and nervous system tissue, causing
central nervous system infection and respiratory disease (Pomeranz,
Reynolds, & Hengartner, 2005). PRV infection can downregulate the
function of macrophage, under conditions such as phagocytosis, killing
of phagocytized bacteria, IFN-α production and phagosome fusion were
downregulated in PRV infected pigs (Fuentes & Pijoan, 1986; Iglesias,
Pijoan, & Molitor, 1992). Shibata and colleagues have indicated that
the mean percentage of the lung lesions were 0.1% and 8.3% inoculate
with Mhp alone, whereas 9.8% and 17.2% in co-infection with Mhp and
PRV in post-inoculation-week (PIW) 2 and 4 respectively(Shibata et al.,
1998). Consequently, PRV infection appears to have effect on the
severity of experimentally induced acute Mhp in young pigs. Further
studies will prove the exact mechanism involved in the interaction of
PRV with Mhp, providing reference for the developing of vaccine which
can combat both pathogens.