3.1. Molecular detection confirms the presence of PDCoV genome in intestinal samples of pigs suffering from an enteric disease outbreak in Peru
We took advantage of a widely used qRT-PCR assay that allows accurate differentiation of most common enteric coronaviruses in swine such as PEDV, TGEV and PDCoV. qRT-PCR results confirmed the presence of PDCoV RNA in all (n=3) samples analysed, which tested negative to PEDV and TGEV. In addition to its qualitative feature, this assay allows relative quantification. Thus, the viral load was quantified through the amount of genetic target of PDCoV amplified during the process. Samples had low Ct values to PDCoV (Ct = 9-14) which indicated a high PDCoV viral load. From these results, we inferred that PDCoV was involved in the enteric disease with high viral titers.