Comparison of three commercial one-dose porcine circovirus type 2 (PCV2) vaccines in a herd with concurrent circulation of PCV2b and mutant PCV2b

•Commercial PCV2a vaccines induced protective immune responses.•Commercial PCV2a vaccines reduced mPCV2b viremia and lymphoid lesion.•Commercial PCV2a vaccines were protective against mPCV2b infection.

Porcine circovirus associated disease (PCVAD) occurred in a farm where pigs had been routinely vaccinated with a commercial PCV2a vaccine. A mutant PCV2b (mPCV2b) was isolated from pigs with PCVAD, perhaps implying a perceived vaccine failure. The objective of this study was to determine and compare the efficacy of 3 one-dose PCV2a vaccines of varying antigen type and dose in the same pig farm with concurrent PCV2b and mPCV2b infection based on clinical (average daily weight gain; ADWG), virological (evidence of viremia), immunological (presence of PCV2-specific neutralizing antibody; NA and interferon-γ secreting cells; IFN-γ-SC), and pathological (lymphoid lesion and PCV2 antigen score within lesion) evaluation. Regardless of which commercial PCV2a vaccine was used, vaccinated animals improved ADWG, and reduced the amount of PCV2b and mPCV2b load in the blood compared to unvaccinated animals. The vaccination of piglets at 3 weeks of age effectively induced higher levels of PCV2b- and mPCV2b-specific NA and IFN-γ-SC compared to unvaccinated animals. A reduction in mPCV2b load in the blood coincided with the appearance of both mPCV2b-specific NA and IFN-γ-SC in the vaccinated animals. The microscopic lymphoid lesions and PCV2-antigen scores within the lymph nodes were significantly lower in vaccinated animals. The perceived vaccine failure could not be explained by incomplete protection of the commercial PCV2a vaccine against mPCV2b. The results of the present study demonstrated that currently available commercial PCV2a vaccines are protective against concurrent PCV2b and mPCV2b infection based on clinical, virological, immunological, and pathological evaluations under field conditions.