Effect of Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea Virus Infectious Doses on Infection Outcomes in Naïve Conventional Neonatal and Weaned Pigs

Thomas, Joseph T.; Chen, Qi; Gauger, Phillip C.; Giménez-Lirola, Luis G.; Sinha, Avanti; Harmon, Karen M.; Madson, Darin M.; Burrough, Eric R.; Magstadt, Drew R.; Salzbrenner, Holly M.; Welch, Michael W.; Yoon, Kyoung-Jin; Zimmerman, Jeffrey J.; Zhang, Jianqiang

Twenty-eight 5-day-old piglets purchased from a conventional breeding farm were tested at the ISU VDL and confirmed negative for PEDV, porcine deltacoronavirus (PDCoV), transmissible gastroenteritis virus (TGEV), and porcine rotaviruses (groups A, B, & C) by virus-specific PCRs on rectal swabs and negative for PEDV antibody by a virus-specific indirect fluorescent antibody (IFA) assay on serum samples. Upon arrival at the Iowa State University Laboratory Animal Resources (LAR) facilities, all pigs were administered an intramuscular injection of Excede 1 (Zoetis, Florham Park, New Jersey, USA) per label instructions. Pigs were randomized by weight into 7 groups of 4 pigs each, one room per group. Within each group, pigs were housed in tubs with solid dividers completely separating each of the 4 pigs from one another. Each divided portion of the tub had dedicated water sources (Fig 1) . Pigs were fed a mixture of Esbilac liquid milk replacer and yogurt and had free access to water.