graphic that says vido research project

Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea

Project Team: Qiang Liu, Heather Wilson, Colin Strauss, Brittany Thivierge, Shreya Sharma, Mario Fragoso-Saavedra, Jeetnet Baar, Matome Selina Matsiela

Collaborators: François Meurens (Université de Montréal)

Porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV) is an enteric coronavirus in the genus Alphacoronavirus of the Coronaviridae family. PED was first reported in 1971 in England and the virus was isolated in 1978 in Belgium. The disease spread to many parts of Europe and Asia with sporadic outbreaks. Highly pathogenic PEDV strains were identified in 2010 when severe PED outbreaks were reported in China and the virus quickly spread into other countries including the USA and Canada where it killed millions of pigs. PEDV is highly infectious and survives well in the environment. This makes it difficult to control through biosecurity and management practices.

We have developed a novel prototype vaccine and are currently developing a next-generation vaccine. PEDV strains that are currently circulating in North America belong to two genogroups. They are associated with different virulence with limited, if any, cross-reactivity. Our team is working on vaccines that will be effective against both PEDV strains, and that will allow us to distinguish between animals that have been infected and those that have been vaccinated (DIVA vaccines).

Currently we are working on three projects:

  1. Viral ribonucleic acid (RNA) translation modulation.

As a critical step in the life cycles of viruses, translation has broad implications in elucidating virus - host interactions and developing countermeasures. The long-term goal of this NSERC funded program is to study the molecular mechanisms of viral RNA translation modulation. The short-term goal is to study the regulation of PEDV RNA translation by viral nucleocapsid (N) protein and host factors. We are studying how PEDV N protein regulates viral RNA translation through multiple mechanisms.

  1. Development of multivalent vaccines for porcine epidemic diarrhea (PED).

This project is co-funded by Agriculture Agri-Food Canada – Swine Cluster 4 program, Alberta Pork, Manitoba Pork, Sask Pork, and VIDO. The project has two broad aims. In the first aim, we are improving VIDO’s first-generation inactivated vaccine with the goal of cost reduction. In the second aim, we plan to develop a broad protective subunit vaccine.

  1. A bivalent subunit vaccine for porcine epidemic diarrhea (PED).

In this ADF-funded project, we are exploring additional strategies to develop vaccine formulations effective against multiple PEDV strains.

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