To develop a modified live vaccine (MLV) against porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV), virulent CH-1a strain was attenuated by serial passages up to 130 passage (P130) in Marc-145 cells. The virulence and immune efficacy of the attenuated CH-1a were evaluated in pigs. The results showed that animals inoculated with P130 did not develop any clinical sign of the disease, but produced rapid and effective humoral immune responses against PRRSV challenge, indicating that attenuated CH-1a P130 is the candidate as the effective vaccine against PRRSV. To define the potential mutations in the attenuated CH-1a genome, we sequenced and analyzed the ORF5 gene of CH-1a strain of different passages (P39, P55, P65, P70, P85, P100, P115, P120, P125, and P130) and found that three mutations (C5Y, H38Q and L146Q) which may be related with the attenuation of CH-1a. In addition, we also found a unique restriction enzyme site (TspEI) in the ORF5 gene of attenuated CH-1a, which can be used as a genetic marker to distinguish original and attenuated CH-1a.

Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli and Bacillus cereus are the major agents of cow endometritis in dairy cows. A multiplex PCR (SEB-mPCR) was established based on the conserved genes of S. aureus, E. coli and B. cereus, and the detection limits were 103, 102 and 103 CFU mL-1, respectively. SEB-mPCR could not amplify genomic DNA of pathogenic bacteria of other common bovine diseases. A total of 309 vaginal discharge samples from cows with endometritis were tested by SEB-mPCR. Of the samples, 23.95% had the three kinds of bacteria detected, 17.15% had S. aureu and E. coli, 9.39% had E. coli and B. cereus, and 9.71% had S. aureus and B. cereus. The rates of infections with S. aureus, E. coli and B. cereus were 11.35, 16.18 and 9.06%, respectively. Therefore, SEB-mPCR has a potential as a diagnosis tool for endometritis in dairy cows.