Skip to main content
ARS Home » Midwest Area » Ames, Iowa » National Animal Disease Center » Virus and Prion Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #390294
Research Project: Intervention Strategies to Control Endemic and New and Emerging Influenza A Virus Infections in Swine

Location: Virus and Prion Research

Title: Novel morbillivirus as a putative cause of fetal death and encephalitis among swine

Author
item Arruda, Bailey
item LI, GANWU - Iowa State University
item ZHENG, YING - Iowa State University
item SHEN, HUIGANG - Iowa State University

Submitted to: Meeting Proceedings
Publication Type: Proceedings
Publication Acceptance Date: 12/6/2021
Publication Date: 12/7/2021
Citation: Arruda, B.L., Li, G., Zheng, Y., Shen, H. 2021. Novel morbillivirus as a putative cause of fetal death and encephalitis among swine. Meeting Proceedings. (27)7-July 2021. https://doi.org/10.3201/eid2707.203971.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3201/eid2707.203971

Interpretive Summary: Morbilliviruses are highly contagious and cause significant disease in multiple animal species and humans. There is no previous description of a naturally occurring morbillivirus in swine. We detected a new morbillivirus (porcine morbillivirus; PoMV) as a probable cause of fetal death among swine. Phylogenetic analyses showed PoMV is most closely related to canine distemper and phocine distemper virus.

Technical Abstract: Morbilliviruses are highly contagious pathogens. The Morbillivirus genus includes measles virus, canine distemper virus (CDV), phocine distemper virus (PDV), peste des petits ruminants virus, rinderpest virus, and feline morbillivirus. We detected a novel porcine morbillivirus (PoMV) as a putative cause of fetal death, encephalitis, and placentitis among swine by using histopathology, metagenomic sequencing, and in situ hybridization. Phylogenetic analyses showed PoMV is most closely related to CDV (62.9% nt identities) and PDV (62.8% nt identities). We observed intranuclear inclusions in neurons and glial cells of swine fetuses with encephalitis. Cellular tropism is similar to other morbilliviruses, and PoMV viral RNA was detected in neurons,respiratory epithelium, and lymphocytes. This study provides fundamental knowledge concerning the pathology, genome composition, transmission, and cellular tropism of a novel pathogen within the genus Morbillivirus and opens the door to a new, applicable disease model to drive research forward.