The isolation of reovirus-like agents (rotaviruses) from acute gastroenteritis of piglets (Plates XVI)

Abstract

Summary Isolations of reovirus-like agents (rotaviruses) were made from nine of 23 outbreaks of piglet diarrhoea on different farms and from both weaned and unweaned piglets. The viruses were shown to be morphologically and anti-genically similar to the rotaviruses of children and calves. Gnotobiotic piglets given intranasal inoculations of five different isolates developed acute gastroenteritis, and the virus was re-isolated from the faeces or intestinal contents. The piglet virus was not adapted to replicate in cell culture. We conclude that the pig rotavirus is commonly associated with outbreaks of gastroenteritis and is probably an important aetiological factor in this disease.