Porcine Parvovirus Infection (PPV) is the most common and important cause of infectious infertility in swine. Although the virus is ubiquitous among swine throughout the world and is enzootic in most herds that have been tested, The absence of outward clinical signs makes this infection especially dangerous.
Transmission:
Porcine parvovirus is ubiquitous among swine throughout the world. In major swine-producing areas such as the midwestern United States, infection is enzootic in most herds, and with few exceptions sows are immune. Whereas most viruses do not survive outside the host for any great period of time PPV is unusual in that it can persist outside the pig for many months and it is resistant to most disinfectants. This perhaps explains why it is so widespread and so difficult to remove from the pig environment.
Symptoms:
In most swine a transient leukopenia occurs within ten days of infection with PPV. However, this and any other indication of infection are inapparent in all swine except developing fetuses. Infection of a naïve herd of pregnant females results in irregular return of bred animals to estrus, increased numbers of mummified fetuses, smaller litter size, increases in animals checked positive for pregnancy that fail to farrow, and prolonged gestation lengths. The increase in mummified fetuses after a normal gestation period is the hallmark of PPV.
