Detection of Porcine Circovirus Type 2 (PCV2) in Mosquitoes from Pig Farms by PCR

To investigate, whether mosquitoes could be potential vectors that maintain or transmit PCV2, 59 mosquito samples were collected from suspicious PCV2-infected pig farms in Hubei and Anhui province, China. Total DNA from these mosquitoes was extracted and then tested for presence of PCV2 nucleic acid by PCR. Four (6.78%) samples showed the positive result. Subsequently, the positive PCR product was cloned into pEASY-T1 vector and sequenced. Sequence analysis displayed that homology between the PCR products and PCV2 strains were more than 94%. These results demonstrate that PCV2 nucleic acid exists in these mosquitoes, which suggests that mosquitoes could serve as mechanical transmission vectors of PCV2.