Survey of Porcine Parvovirus Infection in Swine Fetuses and Their Dams at a Minnesota Abattoir

SUMMARY Reproductive tracts were recovered from 209 sow and 32 gilt carcasses at slaughter; animals had been pregnant not less than 27 days. Of 241 litters examined, 28 (11.6%) contained one or more porcine parvovirus ( ppv )-infected fetuses, as determined by immunofluorescent microscopy. The frequencies in sow and gilt litters were 12.0% and 9.4%, respectively. The ppv antigen was detected in 219 of 334 (65.6%) dead or mummified fetuses and in 12 of 2,172 (0.5%) live fetuses examined. The 18 litters which contained only dead or mummified fetuses were infected with ppv . As the percentage of litter mummification increased, the likelihood of finding ppv increased. The ppv antibody was detected in ovarian follicular fluids of 94.3% of the sows and 78.1% of the gilts. These findings indicate that ppv is highly associated with fetal mummification and that some pregnant gilts and sows are susceptible to infection.