Retrospective study on swine Torque teno virus genogroups 1 and 2 infection from 1985 to 2005 in Spain

• Published in: Veterinary microbiology Vol. 134; no. 3; pp. 199 - 207
• Main Authors: Segalés, Joaquim, Martínez-Guinó, Laura, Cortey, Martí, Navarro, Nuria, Huerta, Eva, Sibila, Marina, Pujols, Joan, Kekarainen, Tuija
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Amsterdam Elsevier B.V 02.03.2009; Amsterdam; New York: Elsevier; Elsevier
• Subjects: Animals; Biological and medical sciences; blood serum; Circoviridae; disease detection; disease diagnosis; disease prevalence; DNA Virus Infections - epidemiology; DNA Virus Infections - veterinary; DNA Virus Infections - virology; epidemiological studies; Evolution; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; genetic markers; Genogroup; genome; Genome, Viral; genomics; genotype; longitudinal studies; microbial genetics; Microbiology; molecular epidemiology; molecular genetics; Molecular Sequence Data; nucleotide sequences; pathotypes; Phylogeny; Pig; polymerase chain reaction; Retrospective; Retrospective Studies; sequence analysis; Spain - epidemiology; strains; Swine; swine diseases; Swine Diseases - epidemiology; Swine Diseases - virology; Torque teno virus; Torque teno virus (TTV); Torque teno virus - classification; Torque teno virus - genetics; viral diseases of animals and humans; Spain; Europe; Torque teno virus (TTV); Genogroup; Evolution; Phylogeny; Retrospective; Pig; Microbiology; Infection; Vertebrata; Mammalia; Swine; Viral disease; Artiodactyla; Veterinary; Ungulata; Medicine
• ISSN: 0378-1135; 1873-2542
• DOI: 10.1016/j.vetmic.2008.08.002

A retrospective study to detect evidence of swine Torque teno virus (TTV) genogroups 1 and 2 infection in sera of pigs from the Spanish livestock between years 1985 and 2005 was carried out by means of PCR. Also, the molecular evolution of TTV genogroups 1 and 2 during the 20-year period studied using a 250-base sequence of the non-coding region of the viral genome was assessed. Both TTV genogroup genomes were found in pig sera from the first year of study. Taking into account the whole study period, 113 out of 162 animals (69.8%) were infected with one or the other genogroup, while 38 out of 162 pigs (23.5%) were co-infected with both genogroups. Moreover, TTV genogroup 2 (90 out of 162, 55.6%) was significantly more prevalent than genogroup 1 (54 out of 162, 33.3%). The non-coding region of swine TTV genome sequenced showed its adequacy as a molecular marker in swine TTV. This study represents the earliest evidence of TTV infection in pigs to date, 14 years before the initial description of this virus. Moreover, this is also the earliest evidence of TTV infection in any species.