Comparison of Asian porcine high fever disease isolates of porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus to United States isolates for their ability to cause disease and secondary bacterial infection in swine

•Both Asian HP-PRRSV isolates and US PRRSV isolates varied in virulence.•The frequency of secondary bacterial pneumonia was associated with the virulence of the PRRSV strains evaluated.•Serum cytokine levels tended to be lower for pigs coinfected with virus and bacteria compared to pigs infected wit... Full description

•Both Asian HP-PRRSV isolates and US PRRSV isolates varied in virulence.•The frequency of secondary bacterial pneumonia was associated with the virulence of the PRRSV strains evaluated.•Serum cytokine levels tended to be lower for pigs coinfected with virus and bacteria compared to pigs infected with PRRSV alone.•Factors such as bacterial burden, age at the time of exposure, and stress play an important role in the outcome of infection with PRRSV. Epidemiologic data from Asian outbreaks of highly-pathogenic (HP) porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) suggest that disease severity was associated with both the virulence of the PRRSV isolates and secondary bacterial infections. Previous reports have indicated that U.S. isolates of PRRSV predispose to secondary bacterial infections as well, but the severity of disease that occurred in Asia in pigs infected with these HP-PRRSV strains has not been reported in the U.S. The objectives of this research were to compare the pathogenesis of Asian and U.S. PRRSV isolates with regard to their ability to cause disease and predispose to secondary bacterial infections in swine. To address these objectives groups of pigs were infected with 1 of 2 Asian HP-PRRSV strains (rJXwn06 or rSRV07) or 1 of 2 U.S. PRRSV strains (SDSU73 or VR-2332) alone or in combination with Streptococcus suis, Haemophilus parasuis, and Actinobacillus suis. Pigs infected with rJXwn06 exhibited the most severe clinical disease while the pigs infected with rSRV07 and SDSU73 exhibited moderate clinical disease, and pigs infected with VR-2332 exhibited minimal clinical signs. The frequency of secondary bacterial pneumonia was associated with the clinical severity induced by the PRRSV strains evaluated. The levels of proinflammatory cytokines in the serum were often lower for pigs coinfected with virus and bacteria compared to pigs infected with PRRSV alone indicating an alteration in the immune response in coinfected pigs. Combined our results demonstrate that severity of disease appears to be dependent on virulence of the PRRSV strain, and development of secondary bacterial infection.