Aujeszky's disease

What is Aujeszky's disease?

Aujeszky's disease (AD), which is also called pseudorabies, is caused by porcine herpesvirus.

It primarily affects pigs and is characterised by respiratory, reproductive and nervous signs. Piglets will have incoordination, recumbency and convulsion. Older pigs suffer from coughing, sneezing and nasal discharge. Infection of sows can cause abortion and stillbirths.

AD was eradicated in Great Britain in 1991 and is less common worldwide due to effective marker vaccines and improved husbandry.

VLA's work on Aujesky's disease includes:

  • rapid detection of an outbreak and planning for a rapid scale-up contingency,
  • providing consultancy and information on the global situation,
  • providing a means of tracing the source of new outbreaks by molecular epidemiology.