Epidemiological Investigation of Pseudorabies in Greece

Pseudorabies is an acute, frequently fatal disease that mainly affects pigs and incidentally other animals. Although pseudorabies virus (PRV) has been eradicated from many European countries, it is still endemic in East and Southeast parts of Europe. Greece belongs to the countries where the disease is enzootic. In this study, we investigated the presence of PRV in Greek farms. For that reason, 42 pig farms were selected from the entire Greek territory. Blood samples from different age groups had been collected from each farm and were tested by ELISA for the presence of antibodies against wild strains of PRV. The results of our study showed that 28.6% of the selected farms were positive for the presence of antibodies against wild-type strains of PRV and that factors such as the non-implementation of biosafety measures and the high density of pig farms in an area may affect the probability of a farm to become PRV positive. This study provided some useful information with regard to the presence of PRV in the domestic pigs in Greece. This information may assist in designing and implementing measures in order to control and eradicate the disease from the domestic pigs in Greece.