A serological survey of swine parvovirus infection in Italy

A serological survey to detect the presence of porcine parvovirus (PPV) infection in Italy and its geographic distribution was conducted. 1,332 samples of serum collected in 1983/1984/1985 were taken from pig breeding herds and, to a lesser extent, from fattening piggeries of representative regions of Italy. They were tested using the hemagglutination inhibition test (HIT). The results of the serological study indicate that parvovirus infection is widespread in Italian herds having 70.3% of sera antibodies to this virus; the most frequent titer detected was 1:8192 or higher. Sera from adult sows showed a higher rate (73.1%) of positive titers than those from 3-6 month-old pigs (40.7%). Positive samples were more relevant in the regions of northern Italy when compared with those from the southern Italy, Sicily and Sardinia.