Metagenomic and Pathogenic Assessments Identify a Pathogenic Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome Virus 1 with New Deletions from Adult Slaughter Pig in 2022

Since we first reported porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus 1 (PRRSV1) wild type strains in mainland China in 2011, PRRSV1 infection has been detected in more than 20 provinces in China. During the routine investigation of PRRSV1 epidemiology in 2022, we isolated a novel PRRSV1 strain (SD1291) from an adult slaughter pig in Linyi, Shandong Province. The SD1291 could only be isolated with primary alveolar macrophages (PAMs), not with Marc-145 cells. In addition, the 2022 SD1291 isolate has higher in vitro replication efficacy than the 2014 PRRSV1 HLJB1 isolate in PAMs. Due to high genetic variation, the complete genome of SD1291 was determined by metagenomic sequencing, which showed that SD1291 shares the highest genome similarity (88.12%) with the PRRSV1 HeB47 isolate. Sequence alignment results identified a four-amino-acid deletion in nsp2 and a five-amino-acid deletion in the GP3 and GP4 overlap region of SD1291. A complete-genome-based phylogenetic tree showed that SD1291 is grouped with BJEU06-1-like PRRSV1 isolates. A piglets’ challenge study showed that SD1291 can cause high fever (the highest is 41°C), reduced weight gain, mild lung consolidation, and interstitial pneumonia indicating that SD1291 is a pathogenic PRRSV1 isolate. Overall, this study first identified a novel pathogenic PRRSV1 isolate from an adult slaughter pig in China. Our findings also suggested that new PRRSV1 variants could escape the current PRRSV vaccination system and circulate in adult swine herds, which deserve more attention.