Novel Bungowannah virus - a possible new species of pestivirus in pigs

A team of researchers working in the the virology laboratory (Kirkland, Frost, Finlaison, King, Ridpath and Gu) have been studying the organism since 2003 after an outbreak of sudden deaths occurred in three to four week old piglets on a farm in New South Wales.

The infection caused a marked increase in the birth of stillborn foetuses. Further diagnostic investigations showed that the pathological changes consisted of a multifocal non-suppurative myocarditis. A viral infection was suspected, but a wide range of known agents were excluded.

Further investigations using a modified sequence independent single primer amplification (SISPA) method identified a novel virus associated with this outbreak. Further laboratory tests and genetic investigations eventually enabled the virus to be classified under the Pestivirus genus.

Research into the genetic coding of this virus has now demonstrated that it is possibly the most divergent pestivirus identified to date.

Other diseases within this genus include Classical Swine Fever, Bovine Viral Diarrhoea and Border Disease Virus in sheep.

For further information click here

For more information on Classical Swine Fever, click here.

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