Concomitant Infection With Porcine circovirus 2 and Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea Virus Does Not Increase Enteritis Severity in Experimentally Infected Weaned Piglets

Background: Young pigs are often coinfected with porcine circovirus 2 (PCV2) and porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV). This study aimed to determine the impact of coinfection of pigs with PCV2 and PEDV. Forty 16-day-old crossbred mixed-sex piglets were assigned to four groups (n = 10/group, NEG-CONTROL, PCV2-CONTROL, PCV2+PEDV, and PEDV-CONTROL). At day postinoculation (dpi) 0, NEG-CONTROL pigs were inoculated with saline, PCV2-CONTROL pigs were inoculated with PCV2, PCV2+PEDV pigs were inoculated with PCV2 and PEDV, and PEDV-CONTROL pigs were inoculated with PEDV.

Results: No clinical signs were observed in the NEG-CONTROL and PCV2-CONTROL group pigs throughout termination of the study at dpi 21. Other than mild to moderate diarrhea, which lasted for about 7 days, no other clinical signs associated with PEDV or PCV2 infection were observed in the PEDV-CONTROL and PEDV+PCV2 groups.

Conclusion: Coinfection of PEDV and PCV2 had no effect on virus shedding, serum antibody profile, and macroscopic or microscopic lesions.