Veterinary Virology—DMP 722

Spring 2006
Viral Diseases of Swine and Small Ruminants

One of your best clients raises pigs in 600 pig nurseries from 3 to 12 week-of-age, then trucks
them to the finishing farm where pigs from one nursery are placed in a single building where
they stay until marketed. Lately, there have been problems in some of the finisher barns and, to
a lesser extent, the nurseries. Starting 4-6 weeks after arrival, some pigs begin to look gaunt and
lose weight. Many of the thin pigs have visibly enlarged inguinal and submandibular lymph
nodes. There is more coughing than normal and when moved around some pigs begin panting
heavily and have difficulty breathing. By 8 weeks in the finisher, death losses since arrival are
approximately 8 times higher than normal in 3 buildings.

1. All of the following are possible causes for respiratory disease in pigs except:
a. Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus
b. Pseudorabies virus
c. Porcine circovirus type 2
d. Enzootic pneumonia of swine virus
e. Porcine herspesvirus-1
f. Swine Influenza virus

2. All are possible causes of weight loss leading to emaciation in pigs except (select the 2 most
correct):
a. Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus
b. Chronic bacterial pneumonia that resulted in pulmonary abscesses and fibrosis
c. Porcine circovirus type 2
d. Enzootic pneumonia of swine virus
e. Aujeszky’s disease virus

3. Which is not true of porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS)

a. it is caused by a double-stranded, DNA virus that is very resistant to environmental
inactivation
b. it is caused by a single-stranded, RNA virus that is easily inactivated in the
environment, unless frozen and then it is stable.
c. the causative virus is inactivated by low pH (< 6.0) and thus does not normally
survive passage through the stomach.
d. the causative virus is inactivated by high pH (>8.0)
e. in naive herds it is common for there to be clinical signs in all ages of pigs.

4. Which virus listed in question 1 usually spreads the fastest and causes the most acute
outbreaks of respiratory disease with coughing being a prominent clinical signs?
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5. You necropsy 5 pigs and find that they all have lesions of bronchopneumonia typical of
bacterial infection. List two viruses listed in question 1 that are often associated with
increased bacterial infections in pigs?
a.
b.

6. The owner is worried that the pigs might have porcine respiratory coronavirus. Based on
what history you have and the necropsy lesions, is respiratory coronavirus likely to be a
significant clinical problem? Why or why not?

7. You decide to bleed 15 pigs, pool the sera into 3 tubes with serum from 5 pigs in each tube.
You submit the sera for virus isolation and serology. Each pool has a high ELISA titer for
porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV). The lab isolates PRRSV
from all 3 pooled samples in spite of the fact that they have high antibody titers. The most
likely reason is
a. the antibodies are neutralizing
b. the antibody titers are probably a cross reaction to swine influenza virus
c. the antibodies are probably not neutralizing
d. the presence of antibodies in the serum has nothing to do with whether or not the sera
are virus isolation positive
e. The antibodies are probably neutralizing, but not hemagglutinating.

8. Which of the following viruses is most likely to be eliminated by thorough cleaning,

disinfection, and allowing the building sit empty for 2 week:
a. porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus
b. porcine circovirus type 2
c. porcine parvovirus
d. porcine rotavirus

9. The owner is worried that some of the pigs are infected in utero and are persistently infected
and infecting their herd mates at the finishing farm. Indicate for each of the following
diseases whether or not in utero infection and persistent or latent infection is known to occur:
a. porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus
b. pseudorabies virus
c. porcine circovirus type 2
d. swine influenza virus
e. transmissible gastroenteritis virus
f. porcine parvovirus

10. The manager of the nursery facility tells you that for the past 1.5 months there has been mild
to moderate diarrhea in pigs about 3 to 7 days after weaning. The death loss is less than 2%,
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but the pigs become dehydrated and lose weight for a few days. There has not been any
evidence of diarrhea at the farrowing facility.

a. What are the two most common causes of viral diarrhea in U. S. pigs?
1.
2.

b. What is a possible reason the pigs develop diarrhea after weaning, but not before?

c. The owner recently read an article in his International Pig Newsletter about porcine
epidemic diarrhea virus and is concerned it might be a problem. You tell him that the
virus unlikely in Kansas because

11. The USDA veterinarian at a local slaughter plant found pigs from your client that have ulcers
of the skin on the lips, ventral claws, and around the coronary bands. There are also ulcers
affecting the mucous membranes of the oral cavity, and, with careful examination, one can
find fluid filled vesicles on or around the lips. The USDA veterinarian closes the plant and
takes samples to be tested for vesicular diseases, which include (circle all that are correct):
a. Foot and mouth disease
b. Vesicular stomatitis
c. Bluetongue
d. Swine vesicular disease
e. Vesicular exanthema of swine
f. Porcine circovirus type 2

12. Your client’s hog operation is located in southwestern Kansas. If this is indeed a vesicular
disease, which is most likely? Why?

13. Of the viral diseases listed in question 12, which is the most contagious?

14. The manager of the farm where the affected pigs came has you look at a group of sheep
being raised by her oldest child as a 4-H project. The sheep are obviously very reluctant to
move, they are salivating excessively and their feet have a few ulcers and/or crusts. The
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owner also has 2 horses that are in contact with the sheep, and the horses are perfectly
healthy. If the sheep have the same vesicular disease as the pigs, the pigs are affected by:

15. After sending samples from the pigs and sheep to the USDA foreign animal disease
laboratory, you determine that the pigs do not have a vesicular disease. Two possible causes
of the clinical signs described in the sheep include:
a. Cache Valley virus
b. Epizootic hemorrhagic disease
c. Contagious ecthyma virus
d. Bluetongue virus
e. Sheep and goat poxvirus

16. Match the virus in the left column with the most important method of transmission from the
right column
___Cache Valley Virus a. Mosquitoes
___Epizootic hemorrhagic disease virus b. Animal to animal
___Contagious ecthyma virus c. Culicoides sp.
___Sheep and goat pox virus d. aerosol
___Bluetongue virus e. Colostrum and milk
___Ovine progressive pneumonia virus
___Caprine arthritis—encephalomyelitis virus

17. Two viral diseases of pigs, sheep, or goats that can affect humans are:
a.

b.

18. Indicate whether each of the following arboviruses are RNA or DNA viruses:
_______Bluetongue virus
_______Rift Valley virus
_______African swine fever virus
_______West Nile virus
_______Cache Valley virus
_______Western equine encephalomyelitis virus

19. The primary clinical signs and pathologic lesions caused by viral infections are the result of
replication in and damage to a particular cell type. Match the disease in the left column with
the cell type in the right column that is the primary site of replication for that virus (you may
or may not use all answers or you might use some more than once):
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___Bluetongue a. crypt epithelium of the small intestine

___Cache Valley virus b. villous epithelium of the small
intestine
___Rotavirus c. crypt epithelium of the large intestine
___Contagious ecthyma d. cells of the central nervous system
___Transmissible gastroenteritis e. macrophages
___swine influenza f. epithelium lining bronchi and bronchioles
___Porcine reproductive and respiratory g. Endothelium
syndrome virus h. Epithelium of the skin

20. Viral diseases of sheep and/or goats that are caused by Lentiviruses are:
a. Pulmonary carcinomatosis
b. Bluetongue
c. Ovine progressive pneumonia
d. Contagious ecthyma
e. Caprine arthritis—encephalomyelitis

21. A client has several sheep with ovine progressive pneumonia. She notes that the lambs from
these ewes are smaller than average at weaning. A probably reason for this is:

22. There is an outbreak of pseudorabies in pigs owned by an occasional client of yours. The
group of pigs most likely to have the highest mortality is:
a. pregnant sows and gilts
b. nursing piglets
c. weaned piglets 3 to 6 weeks-old
d. weaned piglets 7 to 12 weeks-old
e. finishing pigs over 3 months-old

23. The clinical signs in the group with the highest mortality is most likely to be
a. anorexia, intense pruritus, abortion and death
b. central nervous signs with opisthotonos, incoordination, trembling, and seizures
c. severe diarrhea leading to dehydration
d. dyspnea, tachypnea, coughing, and death
e. Intense pruritus followed by death

24. The owner has a group of sheep and is concerned that pseudorabies could spread to the
sheep. The state department of agriculture allows vaccination for pseudorabies. Should the
owner vaccinate the sheep? Why or why not
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25. A client has a flock of sheep diagnosed with the transmissible spongiform encephalopathy of
sheep. That disease is:

26. The area USDA veterinarian has the owner bleed the flock and send whole blood samples off
for genetic testing. The test results come back and the amino acid combinations at codons
136 and 171 of the PrP gene are:
a. AA RR
b. AA QR
c. AV QR
d. AA QQ
e. AV QQ
(Key: A = alanine; V = valine; R = arginine; Q = glutamine)
Circle all of the above amino acid combinations that are highly susceptible to the transmissible
spongiform encephalopathy disease in the preceeding question.

27. Transmissible spongiform encephalopathies are unique in that they are thought to be caused
by ________________, which are different from other infectious agents in what way?

28. The transmissible spongiform encephalopathy that affects deer and elk is:
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29. Both porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS) and postweaning
multisystemic wasting syndrome (PMWS) are characterized by poor growth, enlargement of
lymph nodes, and interstitial pneumonia. A major difference in the two diseases is:
a. With PRRS there is lymphoid necrosis, and with PMWS there is widespread
lymphoid hyperplasia.
b. With PRRS there is lymphoid hyperplasia, and with PMWS there is lymphoid
depletion with replacement by macrophages.
c. With PRRS there is lymphoid depletion with replacement by macrophages, and with
PMWS there is lymphoid hyperplasia.
d. With PRRS there is widespread necrosis of the epithelium lining bronchi and
bronchioles, and with PMWS there is necrosis of the epithelium that lines alveoli.
e. PRRS almost exclusively affects suckling pigs, while PMWS almost exclusively
affects weaned, finishing pigs.

30. Two important diseases of swine that are clinically indistinguishable and which are
characterized clinically by widespread hemorrhages are:
a. Foot and mouth disease and swine vesicular disease
b. Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus and postweaning multisystemic
wasting syndrome
c. Pseudorabies and rabies
d. Border disease and classical swine fever
e. Classical swine fever and African swine fever