viruses Article Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea in Europe: In-Detail Analyses of Disease Dynamics and Molecular Epidemiology Dennis Hanke 1, Anne Pohlmann 1, Carola Sauter-Louis 2, Dirk Höper 1 , Julia Stadler 3, Mathias Ritzmann 3, Adi Steinrigl 4, Bernd-Andreas Schwarz 5, Valerij Akimkin 6, Robert Fux 7, Sandra Blome 1,* and Martin Beer 1 1 Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut, Institute of Diagnostic Virology, D-17493 Greifswald—Insel Riems, Germany; dennis.hanke@fli.de (D.Ha.); anne.pohlmann@fli.de (A.P.); dirk.hoeper@fli.de (D.Hö.); martin.beer@fli.de (M.B.) 2 Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut, Institute of Epidemiology, D-17493 Greifswald—Insel Riems, Germany; carola.sauter-louis@fli.de 3 Clinic for Swine, Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich, D-85764 Oberschleissheim, Germany; [email protected] (J.S.); [email protected] (M.R.) 4 Österreichische Agentur für Gesundheit und Ernährungssicherheit GmbH, A-2340 Mödling, Austria; [email protected] 5 Vaxxinova GmbH, Standort Leipzig, D-04103 Leipzig, Germany; [email protected] 6 Chemisches und Veterinäruntersuchungsamt Stuttgart, Fellbach, D-70736 Fellbach, Germany; [email protected] 7 Institute for Infectious Diseases and Zoonoses, Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich, D-80539 Munich, Germany; [email protected] * Correspondence: sandra.blome@fli.de; Tel.: +49-38351-7-1144 Academic Editor: Andrew Mehle Received: 24 May 2017; Accepted: 30 June 2017; Published: 6 July 2017 Abstract: Porcine epidemic diarrhea (PED) is an acute and highly contagious enteric disease of swine caused by the eponymous virus (PEDV) which belongs to the genus Alphacoronavirus within the Coronaviridae virus family. Following the disastrous outbreaks in Asia and the United States, PEDV has been detected also in Europe. In order to better understand the overall situation, the molecular epidemiology, and factors that might influence the most variable disease impact; 40 samples from swine feces were collected from different PED outbreaks in Germany and other European countries and sequenced by shot-gun next-generation sequencing. A total of 38 new PEDV complete coding sequences were generated. When compared on a global scale, all investigated sequences from Central and South-Eastern Europe formed a rather homogeneous PEDV S INDEL cluster, suggesting a recent re-introduction. However, in-detail analyses revealed two new clusters and putative ancestor strains. Based on the available background data, correlations between clusters and location, farm type or clinical presentation could not be established. Additionally, the impact of secondary infections was explored using the metagenomic data sets. While several coinfections were observed, no correlation was found with disease courses. However, in addition to the PEDV genomes, ten complete viral coding sequences from nine different data sets were reconstructed each representing new virus strains. In detail, three pasivirus A strains, two astroviruses, a porcine sapelovirus, a kobuvirus, a porcine torovirus, a posavirus, and an enterobacteria phage were almost fully sequenced. Keywords: porcine epidemic diarrhea; porcine epidemic diarrhea virus; phylogenetic analyses; metagenome Viruses 2017, 9, 177; doi:10.3390/v9070177 www.mdpi.com/journal/viruses Viruses 2017, 9, 177 2 of 13 1. Introduction Porcine epidemic diarrhea (PED) is an acute and highly contagious enteric disease of swine that results in severe enteritis, diarrhea, vomiting, and dehydration. Especially in suckling pigs, mortality can be very high [1]. The causative agent, Porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV), is an enveloped positive single-stranded RNA virus that belongs to genus Alphacoronavirus in the family Coronaviridae [2]. After its first recognition in the 1970s in Europe [3], the disease caused considerable economic losses, especially in Asia. Since the 1990s, Europe has reported only sporadic cases [4]. In May 2013, a highly virulent PEDV variant emerged in the United States (US), with swine farms experiencing explosive epidemics affecting all age classes of animals, with up to 95% mortality in suckling pigs [5,6]. Apart from these highly virulent strains, apparently less-virulent so-called S INDEL (INDEL standing for insertions and deletions) strains were co-circulating in the US [7,8]. In spring 2014, new PED cases were reported from Germany with different clinical presentations despite a low variability among the detected PEDV strains [9]. It was demonstrated that the causative virus strains were very similar to the S INDEL strains reported in the US. Subsequently, highly similar strains were also found in several European countries, including France [10], Belgium [11], Italy [12], Austria [13], and Spain [14]. At almost the same time, a highly virulent non-INDEL strain was described in Ukraine [15]. Up to now, quite a high number of PED cases have been diagnosed in Germany with a low overall impact on productivity. Varying clinical signs and phenomena such as recurrence of PED in the same herd, or reinfection of pigs that had been affected as piglets, have been observed (field observations reported by veterinary authorities and practitioners). In an attempt to better understand the overall situation, the molecular epidemiology, and secondary factors with influence on disease severity and dynamics, a detailed study was conducted based on metagenomic datasets obtained from samples of recent PED cases in Germany and Europe. In detail, full-length genomes were generated for phylogenetic analyses, and the role of secondary infections on the observed virulence was explored by investigating the metagenomics datasets. Where possible, epidemiological background information on farm location and type was used to link the data. 2. Materials and Methods 2.1. Sample Origin Forty fecal samples (feces or swabs) and intestines were collected from PED cases in Germany, Austria, and Romania between 2014 and 2015 (see Table 1). All samples were derived from routine diagnostic investigations, and were confirmed as PEDV positive by real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) using the assays published by the University of Minnesota Diagnostic Laboratory and Alonso et al. in 2014 [16,17]. The majority of samples (n = 35) originated in Germany and were chosen to represent the affected Federal States, different clinical presentations, and pig production sectors (breeding, fattening). In detail, German samples were taken from farms in Baden-Württemberg (n = 17), Bavaria (n = 4), Lower Saxony (n = 5), Schleswig Holstein (n = 1), North Rhine-Westphalia (n = 4), and Thuringia (n = 3). Of these 35 German samples, four had been included in previously reported investigations [9,18], and an additional one had been part of a case report [19]. Four samples were included from Austria [13], and two from Romania. In addition, a historic strain from the virus collection database at the Friedrich-Loeffler-Institute (FLI) was included as reference (strain V215/78, closely related to prototype strain CV777 [20], exact origin unknown). Viruses 2017, 9, 177 3 of 13 Table 1. Details and metadata of samples investigated in this study. Sample ID Country Federal State Comments Fecal material from fattening pigs, sample referred to as farm L00719 BH76/14_1 Germany Baden-Wuerttemberg 4 in metagenomic analyses Fecal material from fattening pigs, referred to as farm 4 in L00721 BH76/14_2 Germany Baden-Wuerttemberg metagenomic analyses Fecal material, sample referred to as farm 5 in metagenomic L00798 K11/14-02 Germany Baden-Wuerttemberg analyses Fecal material, sample referred to as farm 5 in metagenomic L00799 K11/14-01 Germany Baden-Wuerttemberg analyses Fecal material from piglets and weaners, referred to as farm 2 L00855 K14/14-02 Germany Baden-Wuerttemberg in metagenomic analyses L00857 K14/14-04 Germany Baden-Wuerttemberg Fecal material from fattening pigs Border Lower-Saxony L00862 Germany Nucleic acids derived from fecal material of fattening pigs North Rhine-Westphalia L00901 V215/78 Germany not provided Cell culture virus, closely related to CV777 [20] from 1978 Fecal material from a sow, high mortality in piglets, referred to L00906 K16/14-01 Germany Baden-Wuerttemberg as farm 6 Fecal material from a sow and their suckling piglets, high L00907 K16/14-02 Germany Baden-Wuerttemberg mortality in piglets, referred to as farm 6 Fecal material from a sow and their suckling piglets, high L00908 K16/14-03 Germany Baden-Wuerttemberg mortality in piglets, referred to as farm 6 L00918 K17/14-01 Germany Baden-Wuerttemberg Fecal material from a sow, referred to as farm 3 L00,919 K17/14-02 Germany Baden-Wuerttemberg Fecal material from suckling pigs, referred to as farm 3 L00926 K20/14-01 Germany Bavaria No details provided L00927 K20/14-02 Germany Baden-Wurttemberg No details provided L00928 K20/14-03 Germany Baden-Wuerttemberg No details provided L00929 K22/14-01 Germany Baden-Wuerttemberg Re-introduction into farm 2, no complete PEDV genome L00931 K22/14-03 Germany Baden-Wuerttemberg No details provided L00932 K22/14-04 Germany Baden-Wuerttemberg No details provided L00933 K22/14-05 Germany Baden-Wuerttemberg No details provided Fecal material from sows, high mortality in suckling pigs, L00998 K06/15-03 Germany North Rhine-Westphalia referred to as farm 1 L00999 K06/15-07 Germany Schleswig-Holstein Fecal material from fattening pigs Fecal material from a farm with affected fattening and L01011 K01/15-01 Germany Lower Saxony breeding animals L01012 K01/15-02