We reported a GETV strain, named GETV-V1, was isolated from a commercial modified live vaccine (MLV) against porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV), which is widely used on pigs in China. Further results showed that nine batches of MLV vaccine (three batches per year) from the same manufacturer between 2015 and 2017 were all positive for GETV. The complete genomes of the isolate were sequenced and it was found that the genomes of GETV-V1 had the highest similarities with a strain 16-I-674, which was isolated from the sick horses in Japan. This is the first report of GETV contaminant in live swine vaccine in China. Our finding demonstrates that vaccination of the commercial live vaccines might be contaminated and became a potential new route for GETV transmission in swine, pointing to the need for more extensive monitoring of the commercial live vaccines in China.

Severity of porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS) implicated co-infection with other pathogens in pig herd in China, which normally were found Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV), pseudorabies virus (PRV), porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV), porcine circovirus, porcine parvovirus and classical swine fever virus (CSFV). Here we verified a specific fragment which was similar to Getah virus (GETV) by RT-PCR and sequencing from aborted fetuses in Henan province, China. Then we isolated and purified the stain virus. We named it as HNJZ-S1. Furthermore, we characterized HNJZ-S1 by passage and plaque titer, whole genome sequencing, Electron microscopy and animal infection experiments with mice and piglets. The data show that the full-length genome sequence of HNJZ-S1was 11689 bp with homologous 97.4%–99.3% identical to the GETV sequence available in GenBank. Phylogenetic tree analysis showed that HNJZ-S1 was closely related to mosquito isolate 12IH26 from Japan, horse isolates 14-I-605-C1 and 14- I-605-C2, and mosquito isolate HB0234 from China. Animal experiments showed that the isolate HNJZ-S1 caused abortion in pregnant mice and was lethal postnatal day 3 mice and piglets. This study provides important information on the tropism, infection, pathogenicity, environmental microbiology and public health implications of pig derived GETV and will also serve as a source of reliable research materials.

GETV cause fetus death and reproductive disorders in pigs. In this study, a GETV strain, named GETV-V1, was isolated from a commercial modified live vaccine (MLV) against porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV), which is widely used on pigs in China. Further results showed that nine batches of MLV vaccine (three batches per year) from the same manufacturer between 2015 and 2017 were all positive for GETV. We then further characterized the GETV-V1 strain and performed phylogenetic analysis, revealing that the GETV strains circulating in China are genetically diverse and providing a potential platform for evolution. Therefore, this research firstly reported the contamination of GETV in live attenuated PRRS vaccines in China, implying that monitoring of exogenous virus in live vaccines for pigs needs to be improved.