Detection and characterization of porcine bocavirus in the United States

Abstract

We screened pigs (n = 203) presenting with respiratory illness or diarrhea for porcine bocavirus (PBoV); 88 (43.30 %) were positive by PCR. More positives were seen in diarrhea cases (48.7 %) than in respiratory cases (29.1 %). Based on phylogenetic analysis of 540 nucleotides of the NS1 gene, the viruses could be divided into four possible groups. Group IV sequences did not match any GenBank sequences, while groups I, II and III gave matches with PBoV3, PBoV4 and PBoV5, respectively. The wide range (70 % to 100 %) of nucleotide (nt) sequence identity among strains in this study indicates high genetic diversity among porcine bocaviruses.