First report of variant pseudorabies virus infection in goats in China: a neglected infectious disease to ruminants

Pseudorabies virus (PRV), the cause agent of Aujeszky’s disease, is an infectious pathogen which greatly affects the heathy development of pig industry worldwide. The low specific host tropism of PRV allows this virus to infect a variety of animals, such as pigs, cattle, minks, dogs, and even possible humans. However, the occurrence of PRV natural infection in goats has never been documented. Herein we provided robust evidences demonstrating the first case of a variant PRV infection leading to the acute goat death in Yunnan Province, China, which might be resulted from mixed feeding with PRV-infected fattening pigs. Therefore, this report not only highlights the potential threat of newly emerging variant PRV strain(s) to goat industry, but also appeals the development of effective and safe vaccines against PRV variants for goats/ruminants in future.