First report of variant pseudorabies virus infection in goats in China:
a neglected infectious disease to ruminants
Abstract
Pseudorabies virus (PRV), the cause agent of Aujeszky’s disease, is an
infectious pathogen which greatly affects the heathy development of pig
industry worldwide. The low specific host tropism of PRV allows this
virus to infect a variety of animals, such as pigs, cattle, minks, dogs,
and even possible humans. However, the occurrence of PRV natural
infection in goats has never been documented. Herein we provided robust
evidences demonstrating the first case of a variant PRV infection
leading to the acute goat death in Yunnan Province, China, which might
be resulted from mixed feeding with PRV-infected fattening pigs.
Therefore, this report not only highlights the potential threat of newly
emerging variant PRV strain(s) to goat industry, but also appeals the
development of effective and safe vaccines against PRV variants for
goats/ruminants in future.