IPPA, ISU announce swine disease control project

The Iowa Pork Producers Association (IPPA) and the Iowa State University (ISU) College of Veterinary Medicine are taking steps to address a reproductive and respiratory disease that has circulated in swine herds for the past 20 years.


IPPA and ISU are proposing to establish a Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome (PRRS) control project in Iowa County. PRRS has been called the most economically important disease in pigs today and it can cost pork producers from $5 to $7 per pig marketed.


An informational meeting was held for Iowa County pork producers Aug. 3 in Williamsburg to share research information about the PRRS control project. Officials outlined necessary controls and area spread associated with PRRS in swine herds. Sixteen pork producers attended the meeting and more than 80 percent agreed to continue development of the project. Iowa County pork producers who didn’t attend the meeting will be contacted in the next few weeks.


Iowa County has been selected as the first area for consideration because of its history of being locally active and its mixture of feed-to-finish and farrow-to-finish hog operations. The proposed project area is west and north of Highway 151, to Highway 6 and along Highway 149 as it bisects the county. All sites in the area with commercial pigs are to be included in the project.


“The information obtained from this program will provide important and new data regarding PRRS virus movement within an area and the impacts of swine movement on that spread,” said Dr. James McKean of ISU’s College of Veterinary Medicine. “Such experiences will be valuable to other Iowa producers and perhaps nationally as other PRRS control and elimination programs are developed.”


The project has four primary objectives:


1. To demonstrate and develop steps needed to implement a regional PRRS control program


2. Study the impact of PRRS virus movement within a prescribed area over time


3. Study the impact of pig movement on the PRRS virus into and within the study area


4. Reduce the prevalence of the PRRS virus within the selected area


ISU will manage a biosecurity risk assessment tool that has been developed and it will be offered to all participating producers to better understand the risks associated with PRRS virus movement. Five veterinarians from three local practices have agreed to assist local producers with the project.


“This project and the efforts of producers and their veterinarians will help us better understand the PRRS virus and its spread,” said John Weber, IPPA president and a producer from Dysart. “IPPA delegates discussed the prospects for such a PRRS program in January and this project is a result of those discussions.”


The PRRS control project is being partially funded by IPPA, with additional funds being solicited from other interested parties.


For more information, contact McKean at (515) 294-8792.


Source: SupportIowasFarmer

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