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Pathogen Page

Porcine rotavirus

I. General Information

1. NCBI Taxonomy ID:

2. Disease:

Diarrhea

3. Introduction

Rotavirus is an important pathogen that causes diarrhea in human infants and in animals worldwide. Rotavirus infections in pigs seriously impact the pork industry. The mortality rate in piglets is extremely variable, ranging from 0 to 50%, and is usually of the order of 0–10%; however, the loss in growth in recovered piglets is economically the most important effect of the disease (Li et al., 2010).

4. Microbial Pathogenesis

Gut mucosal infection occurs primarily by the invasion route via viral replication at the tips of the villi of epithelial cells in the small intestine, leading to structural and functional changes in the epithelium. The diarrhea that results is caused by the multiple activities of the virus. Malabsorption is a generally accepted mechanism of rotavirus-induced diarrhea, which is characterized by viral replication in villus enterocytes in the small intestine, with subsequent cell lysis and attendant villus blunting, depressed level of mucosal disaccharidase, watery diarrhea, and dehydration. The rotavirus nonstructural protein NSP4, which has recently been suggested to have a toxin-like function, may participate in inducing intestinal inflammation (Li et al., 2010).

5. Host Ranges and Animal Models

Pigs

6. Host Protective Immunity

Because rotaviruses are enteric pathogens, gut mucosal immune responses are likely to play an important role in protective immunity against rotavirus infection. Gut innate immunity provides the first line of defense against pathogenic microorganisms and also initiates acquired immune responses (Li et al., 2010).

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