title: 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.affiliation: Clinical Dental Research Core, National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA. Electronic address: burbelop@nidcr.nih.gov.
authors.forename: Peter D
authors.initials: PD
authors.lastname: Burbelo
authors.forename: Jack A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Ragheb
authors.forename: Amit
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kapoor
authors.forename: Yanjin
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000097:blood / Q000276:immunology*; D019556:COS Cells; D036022:Capsid Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism; D002417:Cattle; D002522:Chlorocebus aethiops; D018173:Circoviridae Infections / Q000097:blood / Q000276:immunology / Q000821:virology; D017925:Circovirus / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism; D006736:Horses; D054884:Host-Pathogen Interactions / Q000276:immunology; D006801:Humans; D007118:Immunoassay / Q000379:methods; D008156:Luciferases / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012307:Risk Factors; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D013552:Swine; D015047:Zoonoses / Q000097:blood / Q000276:immunology* / Q000821:virology
chemical_list: D000914:Antibodies, Viral; D036022:Capsid Proteins; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D008156:Luciferases
keywords: Antibodies; PCV-2; Porcine circovirus; Porcine-derived supplements; Seroepidemiology