Abstract

Many feral swine populations are infected with pseudorabies virus. Infection was confirmed through virus isolations from the genital tract and transmission is believed to be venereal in feral swine herds. The objectives of this project were to determine if domestic pigs could be infected with feral swine strains of pseudorabies virus via the genital and respiratory routes and to determine the extent and sites of virus shedding and latency. Domestic gilts and boars were inoculated, either intranasally or via the genital tract, with a strain of pseudorabies virus that was isolated from the prepuce of a feral pig. We found that this virus could infect both gilts and boars by either route of inoculation and that virus shedding was primarily from the area of inoculation. Although virus was difficult to reactivate via steroid treatment, it did appear to colonize the central nervous system with the sites of latency dependent on route of inoculation. Thus, strains of pseudorabies isolated from the genital tract of feral swine have the potential to spread to domestic swine by either venereal or oronasal transmission and once introduced, latent infection could develop.