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Proliferative Vasculopathy and Cutaneous Hemorrhages in Porcine Neonates Infected with the Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome Virus

Abstract

Severe cutaneous hemorrhages with dermal and subcutaneous capillary angioplasia were seen in aborted and stillborn piglets, concurrently with an acute outbreak of porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) abortions. Histologically, the lesions consisted of angioblastic endothelial cells and immature capillary vascular structures coursing through the edematous myxomatous dermis and subcutis. Proliferating capillaries often were surrounded by large and foamy macrophages that stained positively for PRRSV by immunohistochemistry. The sudden appearance of these vascular lesions during the PRRSV outbreak and their abrupt disappearance after the abortion storm, along with the immunohistochemical localization of PRRSV-positive macrophages adjacent to the proliferating capillaries, suggest that PRRSV likely played a role in the development of these unusual lesions.

Key words: Abortion; angioplasia; cutaneous hemorrhages; porcine viruses; PRRS virus.

Request reprints from Daniel W. Scruggs, Diagnostic and Field Services, College of Veterinary Medicine, PO Box 9825, Mississippi State, MS 39762 (USA). Email: dscruggs{at}cvm.msstate.edu.