Survey of porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS) on pig farms in Andong and Hapcheon region

Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS) causes a significant economic loss in the swine industry not only in Korea but also all over the world. Andong and Hapcheon region were selected for Area Regional Control (ARC) programme to reduce the shedding of PRRS virus (PRRSV) and decrease PRRS outbreaks. Before conducting the PRRS ARC, sera of pigs were tested for both antibody using ELISA and antigen using RT-PCR, then phylogenetic classifications was analysed. Pigs of 138/275 (50.2%) in Andong and 352/425 (82.8%) in Hapcheon were seropositive. Also, the RT-PCR results revealed that 27 heads (8.2%) in Andong, 112 heads (22.0%) in Hapcheon were positive for PRRSV antigen. PRRSVs were mainly detected between the ages of 40 to 60 days. PRRSV ORF5 regions were used to determine genetic clusters based on previous report. All PRRSV type I detected in both Andong and Hapcheon were classified as Cluster I. The PRRSV type II isolates in Andong were assorted to Cluster II, whereas the PRRSV type II isolates in Hapcheon were the viruses were unassembled into any cluster except one identified to Cluster III. Phylogenetic analysis indicated that new clusters of PRRSVs type II were prevalent in Hapcheon.