The interferon sensitivity of selected porcine viruses.

The objective of this study was to compare the sensitivity of 11 porcine viruses to the antiviral effects of porcine interferon-alpha in serum from piglets which had been infected 19 h previously with transmissible gastroenteritis virus, and of porcine interferon-beta prepared in PK-15 cells by induction with polyinosinic:polycytidylic acid, in yield reduction assays in pig kidney cells which were treated with interferon before virus challenge, and both before and after virus challenge. The most sensitive virus to both types of interferon was vesicular stomatitis. A porcine isolate of bovine herpesvirus type 1, hemagglutinating encephalomyelitis virus and porcine enterovirus types 1 and 2 were also highly sensitive to interferon-alpha. There was little reduction in the yield of porcine parvovirus or porcine rotavirus, while swinepox, swine influenza and transmissible gastroenteritis viruses were intermediate in their sensitivity to interferon-alpha. In addition to vesicular stomatitis virus, porcine adenovirus type 3, swine influenza, hemagglutinating encephalomyelitis and porcine rotavirus were highly sensitive to interferon-beta, while swinepox, bovine herpesvirus type 1, porcine parvovirus, transmissible gastroenteritis and porcine enteroviruses were less sensitive than the above viruses to interferon-beta, although all showed significant reductions in virus yield.