A Slaughterhouse Survey for Porcine Circovirus Type 2 in Commercial Pigs in Ibadan, Southwest Nigeria

Porcine circovirus type 2 (PCV2) is recognized as one of the most important agents of reproductive disorders in gilts and sows worldwide. It is associated with considerable economic losses in the swine industry due to the unthriftiness, and variable morbidity and mortality it causes in pigs. In spite of the devastation caused by this virus to the global pig industry, there is little or no report of its occurrence in Nigeria. Hence, a slaughterhouse based survey was conducted to determine the prevalence of PCV2 infections in pigs in Ibadan, southwest Nigeria. Using a commercial ELISA kit, 364 pig sera collected from a major abattoir were screened for IgG antibodies against PCV2. The overall prevalence of anti-PCV2 antibodies in the pigs was 1.4 % (5/364), with more female pigs (4/237, 1.7 %) being seropositive than males (1/127, 0.8 %). Since there is no routine vaccination against this swine disease in Nigeria, thus the antibodies detected in the pig sera indicated a natural exposure to the virus. The absence of clinical disease in the pigs also suggests the possibility of a carrier status for these animals and shows that they could serve as hosts for the perpetuation of the disease. These findings underscore the need for continuous surveillance for PCV2 among pigs in Nigeria in order to determine its contribution to production losses incurred in the Nigerian swine industry and aid the development of prevention and control strategies against the disease.