Fig. 1

Outline of the animal trial. Group I (10 piglets) was vaccinated on day 14 after weaning with the PRRSV-2 based Ingelvac® PRRS MLV (Boehringer-Ingelheim) and infected with the PRRSV-1 field isolate Cobbelsdorf on day 28 (i.e., 14 days post-vaccination). Group II (10 piglets) was vaccinated and challenged in the same manner, but additionally given 40 µg DON/kg body weight (“low dose”) on a daily basis on days 1–28. Group III (10 piglets) was treated analogously, but supplied with 80 µg DON/kg body weight (“high dose”). Animals in group IV (control group, 8 piglets) were mock-vaccinated on day 14, infected on day 28 and did not receive additional DON. Animals were monitored daily and euthanised at the indicated times; blood and organ samples were taken as displayed. For details, see text