GENETIC-HETEROGENEITY OF CLASSICAL SWINE FEVER VIRUS IN CENTRAL-EUROPE

The aim of this work was to genetically characterize Central European isolates of classical swine fever virus (CSFV) and to evaluate the app licability of molecular analysis in the epizootiology of CSFV infectio ns. Thirty four viruses, derived from Central European pigs or wild bo ar, were examined. All of these viruses were detected by each of three sets of oligonucleotide primers which had been designed for the speci fic RT-PCR amplification of different genomic regions. Comparative seq uence analysis of the PCR products showed that they were of a genetic type common in Western Europe. Further discrimination of virus isolate s was possible, into subgroups that largely coincided with their regio ns of origin in Poland, Slovakia, Hungary and Estonia. The discriminat ory ability of the technique was improved by the analysis of a composi te dataset consisting of all of the sequence data from all of the viru ses. Using this approach we were able to distinguish between all of th e viruses and to group them in a manner that precisely matched their g eographical origins, apart from a single Estonian isolate which groupe d with viruses from Eastern Poland. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science B.V.