Pathogenicity of the First Buffalo-origin Senecavirus A in Conventional Piglets and Buffaloes

As the only member of the genus Senecavirus within the family Picornaviridae, Senecavirus A (SVA) has posed an enormous challenge for the pig industry worldwide. In our previous study, a SVA strain was isolated from a buffalo with mouth ulcers. To systematically assess its pathogenicity, this study compared the outcome of piglets and buffaloes artificially infected by the different viral dose of the buffalo-origin SVA strain (SVA/GD/China/2018). These results indicated that vesicular diseases can occur in infected piglets and buffaloes. Severe clinical symptoms were observed in the piglets and buffaloes with the inoculation of 10^5.0 50% tissue culture infective dose (TCID₅₀/mL). The SVA antigen expression was also detected in the lung tissue, chin blister lesion tissue, nasolabial tissue of the piglets, and the upper lip blister tissue of the buffaloes. This study demonstrated that the buffalo-origin SVA strain was pathogenic to piglets and buffaloes, revealing the possibility of cross-species transmission of SVA between pigs and buffaloes. In the future, it is necessary to strengthen the surveillance of SVA in cattle herds.