Feb. 21, 2008 A pig virus that exists worldwide has become more
dangerous as the virus has mutated and then combined with other
pathogens, according to Purdue University researchers. It's not
known why a virus that has been known to infect swine for almost
40 years in North America suddenly started causing disease in
young pigs in 1991 and then began mutating into more deadly
forms. Evidence from research being conducted at the Indiana
Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory on the Purdue campus has
indicated that the most recent mutation of a group of viruses
called "porcine circoviruses" can cause widespread acute
disease. Other pathogens can combine with the virus to increase
the fatality rate significantly. "Our goal is to help the hog
industry by understanding porcine circoviruses better," said
Roman Pogranichniy, a Purdue School of Veterinary Medicine
virologist and a scientist with the lab. In the ongoing study to
determine how the mutated form of porcine circovirus -
abbreviated PCV2-1a - causes more dea