Uterine and Placental Alterations in Pregnant Sows Associated with the Porcine Epidemic Abortion and Respiratory Syndrome (PEARS)

Abstract

In the winter of 1990/91 a new, economically devastating disease occured in european pig breeding herds, characterized by late-term abortion, stillbirth and a high morbidity and mortality of suckling piglets. Because of the clinical picture the disease was named porcine epidemic and respiratory syndrome (PEARS). In this study investigations were carried out in tissues of uterus and placentae of late gestational sows (107 to 112 days of gestation) in three different groups of animals: group I = control animals (n=2) group II = naturally infected sows (n=12) from farms, where PEARS recently had been introduced; group III = sows (n=2), experimentally inoculated with placental homogenates from animals of group II. Both in naturally infected as well as in experimentally infected sows a multifocal, lymphohistiocytic vasculitis and perivascular cell infiltration was observed in the endometrium and maternal part of the placenta, but not in the fetal one. In the fetomaternal unit there were multifocal microseparations of the epithelial layers present. Transmission electron microscopically spherical or oval virus-like particles of 45 to 75 nm in diameter were frequently found on the surface of endothelial cells of blood vessels in the maternal placenta, in a few cases in the intercellular channel system between uterine epithelial cells or on endothelial cells of capillaries in the fetal placenta. Serological results indicate, that an infection with Lelystad virus had occured in naturally and experimentally infected sows and that transplacental infection was present.