Pseudorabies is a disease caused by Suid herpesvirus 1 (PrV) and is responsible for considerable economic losses in the swine industry. The PrV has only one serotype, but based on RFLP (restriction fragment length polymorphism) the virus was divided into four genotypes named I, II, III, IV. The classical methods for PrV genotyping usually require virus isolation, DNA purification enzyme restriction analysis and a long electrophoresis. The aim of this research was to describe a faster and more sensitive method to detect and genotype PrV based on nested-PCR and restriction enzyme analysis. Twenty PrV isolates from south and southeast regions of Brazil, and the standard strain Shope were grown in PK-15 cells and submitted to PCR for glycoprotein E gene amplification. Additionally were tested 75 clinical samples (swine brain), with 25 positives for virus isolation and seroneutralization, and 50 negatives from a flock free PR with negative results in seroneutralization test. There was 100% of agreement between results of nested-PCR and virus isolation and seroneutralization and all samples detected were classified as genotype II. The nested-PCR, combined with restriction enzyme analysis, was able to detect and genotype PrV in 1-2 days with a sensitivity of 10-1,3 TCID50 mL-1. It was faster than classical methods described in the literature that require at least 7 days to be completed.
genotype; nested-PCR; pseudorabies; restriction enzyme analysis
