title: Characterisation of pseudorabies virus in domestic pigs and wild boars in Croatia.
abstract: Serological data imply that pseudorabies (Aujeszky's disease) is present in domestic pigs and wild boars in Croatia. Therefore, this study included testing of brain tissue samples collected from 200 domestic pigs and 105 wild boars originating from seventeen districts of Croatia. The presence of pseudorabies virus (PrV) DNA was confirmed in samples originating from six domestic pigs (3%) and one wild boar (0.95%). Positive samples were sequenced and analysed on the basis of a gC genome fragment. PrV strains have shown to be genetically identical and they are strongly related to some representative strains in the relatively heterogeneous Clade A. The results clearly show that PrV is still circulating among the domestic pig population in Croatia. Furthermore, the presence of pseudorabies virus in wild boars underlines the importance of this species as a PrV reservoir. Continued surveillance is necessary to track the viral spread in order to achieve final eradication of the disease.
authors.affiliation: Croatian Veterinary Institute Department of Virology Savska cesta 143 10 000 Zagreb Croatia.
authors.forename: Tomislav
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Keros
authors.affiliation: Croatian Veterinary Institute Department of Virology Savska cesta 143 10 000 Zagreb Croatia.
authors.forename: Dragan
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Brnić
authors.affiliation: Croatian Veterinary Institute Department of Virology Savska cesta 143 10 000 Zagreb Croatia.
authors.forename: Jelena
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Prpić
authors.affiliation: Croatian Veterinary Institute Department of Pathology Savska cesta 143 10 000 Zagreb Croatia.
authors.forename: Danko
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Dežđek
authors.affiliation: Croatian Veterinary Institute Department of Virology Savska cesta 143 10 000 Zagreb Croatia.
authors.forename: Lorena
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Jemeršić
authors.affiliation: Croatian Veterinary Institute Department of Virology Savska cesta 143 10 000 Zagreb Croatia.
authors.forename: Besi
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Roić
authors.affiliation: Croatian Veterinary Institute Department of Virology Savska cesta 143 10 000 Zagreb Croatia.
authors.forename: Tomislav
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Bedeković
keywords: Croatia; Domestic pig; Suid herpesvirus-1; phylogenetic analysis; pseudorabies; wild boar