Efficacy of two porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS) modified-live virus (MLV) vaccines against heterologous NADC30-like PRRS virus challenge

The emergence of novel and variant porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) strains has made controlling this disease a challenge in China. Several NADC30-like PRRSV outbreaks have occurred in mainland China since 2013. The objective of the present study was to evaluate the cross-protection efficacy of two commercial PRRS modified-live virus (MLV) vaccines, derived from classical PRRSV (VR2332) and highly pathogenic (HP) PRRSV (TJM-F92), against an increasingly circulating NADC30-like lineage in pigs. Thirty-five PRRSV- and antibody-free pigs were randomly divided into the following four groups: strict control (SC), negative control (NC), Boehringer control (BC), and Zoetis control (ZC) groups. The NADC30-like PRRSV used in this study caused fever, clinical respiratory signs, and gross and microscopic lung lesions in inoculated pigs in the NC group. Vaccination with the VR2332 vaccine significantly reduced the percentage of viremic pigs as well as gross lung lesions and improved average daily weight gain compared to the ZC and NC groups, suggesting that this MLV vaccine provides cross-protection against the NADC30-like virus. There were no significant differences in the efficacy of the two MLV vaccines based on clinical scores, immunological responses, or pathological outcomes. This study demonstrated that VR2332 MLV was effective against circulating NADC30-like PRRSV and could be used to control NADC30-like virus infections in the field.