Suipoxvirus infections in suckling piglets

Objective: In a pig breeding farm in Lower Bavaria six cases of proliferative dermatitis occurred between August and September 2006 in one to three-week-old suckling pigs from two gilt litters. Materials and methods: Diagnosis and differential diagnosis were confirmed by clinical dermatological examinations, cultural agent detection, electron microscopy, ELISA, and PCR techniques. Results: Clinical symptoms were characterized by multifocal circular exalted and partly fluctuating skin lesions. They aroused suspicion of a poxvirus infection. It was confirmed by the detection of typical virus particles intransmission electron microscopy. The agents of the disease were identified as original Suipoxvirus by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Orthopoxviruses could be excluded by PCR, a differentiating ELISA, and the replication behavior of the virus isolates in cell cultures. Conclusions and clinical relevance:, Suipoxvirus infections are diagnosed sporadically. The infectious agent is distributed endemically in the environment. New molecular biological techniques enable a genus- and species-specific identification of the poxvirus particles even within parallel and derivative bacterial infections.