The serological evidence in humans supports a negligible risk of zoonotic infection from porcine circovirus type 2.

Abstract

There are two porcine circovirus (PCV) genotypes, PCV-1 and PCV-2. In pigs, PCV-1 infection is asymptomatic but PCV-2 infection can cause severe respiratory disease and other pathology. Although humans ingest PCV-contaminated foods and are exposed to PCV through other sources, the potential of PCV-2 as a zoonotic agent in humans and other species has not been fully explored. Here, four recombinant proteins derived from the PCV-2 capsid gene were examined as antigens using the Luciferase Immunoprecipitation System (LIPS) assay for serological analysis of PCV-2 infection. PCV-2-CAP-Δ1 was the optimum recombinant protein in the LIPS assay with a sensitivity of 93% and specificity of 100% using porcine samples. Testing of healthy human blood donors, equine and bovine serum samples failed to demonstrate the presence of anti-PCV-2 antibodies. Additionally, analysis of two high-risk human groups, cystic fibrosis patients taking porcine derived oral supplements and type I diabetes patients who had undergone porcine islet cell transplantation, showed no evidence of anti-PCV-2 antibodies. These results extend the extensively demonstrated use of LIPS as a robust approach for identifying humoral responses and provide evidence that PCV-2 is likely not infectious in humans.

• Authors: Peter D Burbelo, Jack A Ragheb, Amit Kapoor, Yanjin Zhang
• Journal: Biologicals : journal of the International Association of Biological Standardization (Biologicals) Vol. 41 Issue 6 Pg. 430-4 (Nov 2013) ISSN: 1095-8320 [Electronic] England
• PMID: 24120888 (Publication Type: Journal Article, Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't)
• Copyright: Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Chemical References

• Antibodies, Viral
• Capsid Proteins
• Recombinant Proteins
• Luciferases

Topics

• Amino Acid Sequence
• Animals
• Antibodies, Viral (blood, immunology)
• COS Cells
• Capsid Proteins (genetics, immunology, metabolism)
• Cattle
• Chlorocebus aethiops
• Circoviridae Infections (blood, immunology, virology)
• Circovirus (genetics, immunology, metabolism)
• Horses
• Host-Pathogen Interactions (immunology)
• Humans
• Immunoassay (methods)
• Luciferases (genetics, metabolism)
• Molecular Sequence Data
• Recombinant Proteins (immunology, metabolism)
• Reproducibility of Results
• Risk Assessment
• Risk Factors
• Sequence Homology, Amino Acid
• Swine
• Zoonoses (blood, immunology, virology)