This invention discloses an
epitope peptide of the key SRCR5 domain of
porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) CD163, an
epitope peptide vaccine, and its applications. The
epitope vaccine of this invention exhibits good safety, without safety issues such as
virulence reversion,
viremia, or recombination with other PRRSV strains. It also demonstrates good
immunogenicity; 14 days after secondary immunization, it can induce pigs to produce specific antibodies against the CD163 SRCR5-FP14 epitope with a maximum
agglutination titer of 1:16. Immunized pigs can
resist challenge from the
highly pathogenic PRRSV JAX1 strain. Since all PRRSV subtypes rely on interaction with the CD163
receptor to infect susceptible host cells, and the CD163 molecule is conserved, the
epitope vaccine blocking PRRSV infection also provides broad-spectrum protection against multiple subtypes without affecting pig production performance. This novel
epitope vaccine has broad potential applications in PRRS prevention and control.