Transmission of swine influenza virus among pigs in a population setting
Montserrat Torremorell, DVM, PhD
Principal Investigator
Department of Veterinary Population Medicine
College of Veterinary Medicine
University of Minnesota
Aims: Derive transmission rates (R0,or average number of secondary infections caused by one infectious animal) for a swine influenza A H1N1 virus in experimentally infected pigs under a range of conditions; compare transmission rates for swine influenza virus (SIV) between vaccinated and non-vaccinated pigs; evaluate the effect of vaccine homology in SIV transmission; evaluate the efficacy of SIV vaccine in reducing the rate of transmission of SIV among pigs; provide guidelines on vaccination and quarantine/isolation to reduce or contain the spread of SIV among pigs
Approach: Evaluate the transmission rate for SIV in populations of pigs with different immune status using (1) pigs naturally infected with 2009 novel H1N1 virus, (2) pigs vaccinated with a heterologous commercial swine influenza A vaccine containing two SIV H1N1 strains and one SIV H3N2 strain, and (3) unvaccinated pigs; evaluate impact of exposure among the three groups using clinical assessment, PCR testing on nasal swabs, virus isolation, necropsy, and histopathology