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Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea Virus (PEDV): A Persistent Threat to the...
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Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea Virus (PEDV): A Persistent Threat to the Global Swine Industry

A special issue of Viruses (ISSN 1999-4915). This special issue belongs to the section "Animal Viruses".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 March 2026 | Viewed by 2739

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Ke Liu

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Shanghai Veterinary Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Shanghai, China
Interests: swine virus; flavivirus; JEV
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV), an enveloped, single-stranded positive-sense RNA virus belonging to the genus Alphacoronavirus (family Coronaviridae), continues to pose significant challenges to global swine production. Initially identified in England in the 1970s, this pathogen has achieved worldwide distribution, causing epidemic outbreaks marked by acute watery diarrhea, vomiting, dehydration, and mortality rates approaching 100% in neonatal piglets. The emergence of highly virulent PEDV variants since 2010 has intensified economic impacts, emphasizing the critical need for improved control measures.

Endemic in major pork-producing regions including Asia, North America, and Europe, PEDV caused economic losses exceeding approximately USD 1 billion during the 2010-2013 outbreaks in China and the United States alone. Two key factors hinder eradication efforts: the prolonged environmental persistence of viral particles in contaminated facilities and insufficient cross-protection between antigenically distinct viral strains.

Current prevention strategies focus on vaccine development, though existing formulations derived from classical strains (e.g., CV777) demonstrate limited efficacy against emerging variants due to the antigenic drift of the S protein. Investigational approaches include recombinant subunit vaccines targeting conserved S protein epitopes and next-generation live-attenuated vaccines.

Gaining a comprehensive understanding of PEDV requires a multidisciplinary investigation spanning molecular pathogenesis, epidemiological surveillance, experimental models, and therapeutic development. This Special Issue will advance PEDV control strategies through novel insights into viral transmission dynamics and innovative intervention approaches. We invite contributions in the form of Original Research, Reviews, and Mini-reviews addressing, but not limited to, the following:

  1. Experimental infection models elucidating PEDV adaptation and evolutionary mechanisms;
  2. Genomic and proteomic characterization of field isolates to delineate natural PEDV evolution;
  3. Host–pathogen interactions mediating PEDV entry and infection pathways;
  4. Epidemiological analyses of PEDV distribution patterns in swine populations;
  5. Computational modeling approaches for infection dynamics and outbreak management;
  6. Development of novel vaccine platforms and antiviral therapeutic strategies.

Dr. Ke Liu
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Viruses is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • porcine epidemic diarrhea virus
  • global epidemiology
  • economic loss
  • vaccines and drugs
  • molecular mechanism
  • transmission and pathogenic mechanisms

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

16 pages, 1764 KB  
Article
A Novel Composite Vaccine Combining Inactivated Antigen and IgY Elicits Sustained Humoral Immunity Against FAdV-4 Viruses and PEDV Viruses
by Wenming Gao, Zongmei Huang, Lin Liu, Lijie Li, Huimin Huang, Jingrui Liu, Wenwen Zhou, Yapeng Song and Xinsheng Li
Viruses 2025, 17(12), 1569; https://doi.org/10.3390/v17121569 - 30 Nov 2025
Viewed by 313
Abstract
Vaccination remains the primary strategy for controlling infectious diseases in farm animals. However, current conventional vaccines demonstrate clinical limitations including suboptimal immunogenicity and frequent booster requirements, which compromise disease management efficacy. This study presents an innovative vaccine platform combining yolk immunoglobulin (IgY) with [...] Read more.
Vaccination remains the primary strategy for controlling infectious diseases in farm animals. However, current conventional vaccines demonstrate clinical limitations including suboptimal immunogenicity and frequent booster requirements, which compromise disease management efficacy. This study presents an innovative vaccine platform combining yolk immunoglobulin (IgY) with inactivated antigens as co-immunization components. We developed two formulations targeting economically significant pathogens: avian Fowl Adenovirus Serotype 4 (FAdV-4) and Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea Virus (PEDV). For FAdV-4 vaccine evaluation in specific pathogen-free (SPF) chickens, the IgY-antigen complex demonstrated superior immunogenic properties compared to conventional inactivated vaccines. When administered as a single dose at 14 days of age, the experimental formulation elicited significantly stronger humoral responses as measured by both serum neutralization (SN50) and ELISA. Notably, this vaccination strategy provided 100% protection against lethal FAdV-4 challenge from 0 h to 20 weeks post-vaccination, with complete absence of clinical disease manifestations. In PEDV assessment using mouse models, the IgY-antigen formulation induced significantly higher antibody titers than inactivated antigen alone at all post-immunization timepoints (p < 0.01). Comparative analysis revealed our dual-component platform enhanced both the intensity and rapidity of protective immune responses compared to traditional inactivated vaccines. These findings establish that the IgY-antigen co-immunization strategy represents a promising approach for developing new veterinary vaccines with improved protective efficacy. The platform’s ability to generate robust, rapid-onset immunity while maintaining single-dose effectiveness addresses critical limitations of current vaccine technologies. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea Virus (PEDV): A Persistent Threat to the Global Swine Industry)
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11 pages, 3855 KB  
Article
ORF3 Gene of Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea Virus Causes Nuclear and Morphological Distortions with Associated Cell Death
by Ndirangu A. Kamau, Jae-Rang Rho, Eui-Soon Park, Jung-Eun Yu, Ji-Yun Yu, Gianmarco Ferrara and Hyun-Jin Shin
Viruses 2025, 17(11), 1468; https://doi.org/10.3390/v17111468 - 1 Nov 2025
Viewed by 513
Abstract
There is increasing research interest in the ORF3 accessory protein of PEDV as a critical element for viral virulence. Here, wild type ORF3 (ORF3wt) gene was constructed in pEGFP-C1 vector. Additionally, two truncation mutants, ORF3-N (1-98 amino acids [aa]) and ORF3-C [...] Read more.
There is increasing research interest in the ORF3 accessory protein of PEDV as a critical element for viral virulence. Here, wild type ORF3 (ORF3wt) gene was constructed in pEGFP-C1 vector. Additionally, two truncation mutants, ORF3-N (1-98 amino acids [aa]) and ORF3-C (99-224 aa) were inserted in the same vector. Results of ORF3 expression revealed early cytoplasmic localization but 12 h after transfection, ORF3 accumulated around the nucleus, especially ORF3-N. This caused chromosome condensation and morphological distortion that culminated in cell death. In comparison with the native cells expressing GFP alone, ORF3wt-induced lethality was 6.61% above baseline while ORF3- C expression resulted in moderate increase in cell death (0.64%). ORF3-N was affected the most with 220.32% increased lethality. It was, therefore, inferred that the ORF3 gene encodes a protein that causes nuclear damage, distorts cell morphology and leads to cell death. Furthermore, the role of the protein could be inherent in the N-terminal domain, which consists of the transmembrane domains. These findings underpin the importance of ORF3 gene expression in the host and are rudimental insights for further exploration into the mechanistic interactions of ORF3 and the host, as well as a possible role in pathogenesis in PEDV and other coronaviruses. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea Virus (PEDV): A Persistent Threat to the Global Swine Industry)
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13 pages, 26521 KB  
Article
Development of a Safe and Effective mRNA Candidate Vaccine Against PEDV G2c Genotype Infection
by Shixuan Zhu, Nan Cao, Huawei Zhang and Leqiang Sun
Viruses 2025, 17(9), 1210; https://doi.org/10.3390/v17091210 - 4 Sep 2025
Viewed by 1361
Abstract
Porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV) is a highly contagious coronavirus that causes severe diarrhea, dehydration, and high mortality in piglets, leading to significant economic losses in the swine industry. The spike (S) protein of PEDV is the primary target for neutralizing antibodies and [...] Read more.
Porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV) is a highly contagious coronavirus that causes severe diarrhea, dehydration, and high mortality in piglets, leading to significant economic losses in the swine industry. The spike (S) protein of PEDV is the primary target for neutralizing antibodies and is critical for vaccine development. In this study, the pUC57-S01 and pUC57-S02 plasmids carrying the codon-optimized truncated S gene sequence were constructed. The mRNA S01 showed higher protein expression in vitro than mRNA S02, as confirmed by Western blotting. The safety and immunogenicity of mRNA S01 were evaluated in animal experiments. The results indicated that the mRNA S01 vaccine was safe for piglets and pregnant sows. Immunogenicity was assessed by a neutralization assay, which revealed that encapsulated mRNA S01 induced high levels of neutralizing antibody titers in pigs. Challenge protection efficiency tests showed that the mRNA S01 vaccine conferred immunity to newborn piglets, protecting them from a homologous PEDV strain challenge. This study provides a foundation for the clinical application of PEDV mRNA vaccines and offers a reference for the development of novel vaccines against PEDV. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea Virus (PEDV): A Persistent Threat to the Global Swine Industry)
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