Swine DNA viruses have developed unique mechanisms for evasion of the host immune system, infection and DNA replication, and finally, construction and release of new viral particles. This article reviews four classes of DNA viruses affecting swine: porcine circoviruses, African swine fever virus, porcine parvoviruses, and pseudorabies virus. Porcine circoviruses belonging to the Circoviridae family are small single-stranded DNA viruses causing different diseases in swine including poly-weaning multisystemic wasting syndrome, porcine dermatitis and nephropathy syndrome, and porcine respiratory disease complex. African swine fever virus, the only member of the Asfivirus genus in the Asfarviridae family, is a large double-stranded DNA virus and for its propensity to cause high mortality, it is currently considered the most dangerous virus in the pig industry. Porcine parvoviruses are small single-stranded DNA viruses belonging to the Parvoviridae family that cause reproductive failure in pregnant gilts. Pseudorabies virus, or suid herpesvirus 1, is a large double-stranded DNA virus belonging to the Herpesviridae family and Alphaherpesvirinae subfamily. Recent findings including general as well as genetic classification, virus structure, clinical syndromes and the host immune system responses and vaccine protection are described for all four swine DNA virus classes.

To detect viral agents and isolate porcine circovirus 2 (PCV2), 60 samples of lung and lymph node were collected from 5 to 12 week-old pigs that had showed clinical signs of postweaning multisystemic wasting syndrome (PMWS). Polymerase chain reactions (PCRs) were conducted to identify the viral pathogens including PCV1, PCV2, porcine parvovirus (PPV) and porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) that have been considered to be the causal agents of PMWS. Among 60 samples, PCV 2 was detected from 57 samples but no PCV 1 was detected.

Porcine circovirus type 2 (PCV-2) has been associated with various disease in pigs worldwide including postweaning multisystemic wasting syndrome (PMWS) and porcine dermatitis and nephropathy syndrome (PDNS). In this study, monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) against PCV were produced, characterized and applications of MAbs as diagnostic reagents were described. Spleen or lymph node cells from BALB/c mouse immunized respectively with PCV-1, PCV-2 or expressed PCV-2/ORF2 proteins in baculovirus were fused with SP2/0 myeloma cells using polyethylene glycol (PEG) and hybridoma cells producing PCV-1 or PCV-2-specific antibody were screened by an indirect immunofluorescence (IIF) test.

In order to obtain the genetic informations of the Korean isolates of porcine circovirus 2 (PCV2), nucleotide sequences of total genome of three isolates and open reading frame 2 (ORF2) of four isolates were determined and compared with those of other reference PCV2 isolates. Nucleotide sequences of 3 isolates showed over 99% homology with those of reference strain (GenBank accession no. AF027217). Point mutations were mainly determined on ORF2 regions but little on ORF1 regions.