Vaccination influences the evolution of classical swine fever virus

Abstract

Classical swine fever is a serious, economically damaging disease caused by classical swine fever virus (CSFV). The CSFV is composed of two clades, according to phylogenetic estimates. Attenuated live vaccine such as HCLV, has been widely used to protect pigs from CSFV, but the influence of vaccination on the evolution of CSFV has not been studied. We conducted a systemic analysis of the impact of vaccination on the evolution of CSFV by comparing vaccine-related and non-vaccine-related CSFV groups. We found that vaccination may affect strain diversity and immune escape through recombination and point mutation. We also found that vaccination may influence the population dynamics, evolutionary rate and adaptive evolution of classical swine fever virus. Our evidence suggests that the vaccination might also change host adaptation through influencing codon usage of the virus in swine. These findings suggest that it is necessary to avoid excessive use of CSFV attenuated vaccines.

Keywords: Classical swine fever virus; Codon usage bias; Evolution; Recombination; Selection pressure; Vaccination.