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Training offered for Web-based PRRS Risk Assessment during World Pork Expo

April 16, 2008 — AASV Staff

AASV members have another opportunity to receive training for the new web-based version of the PRRS Risk Assessment for the Breeding Herd. Those who have not previously used the PRRS Risk Assessment are encouraged to participate in order to take advantage of the opportunities afforded by use of the program (see below). The training session is set for Thursday, June 5 during the World Pork Expo in Des Moines, Iowa, and will take place from 7:30 am to 1:00 pm in the 4-H Building on the Iowa State Fairgrounds. Lunch will be provided. There is no cost to AASV members for the training, but participants will need to register for the Expo to gain entrance to the site. Enrollment is limited to veterinarians from the US, Canada, or Mexico on a first-come-first-served basis. To enroll in the training, please email aasv@aasv.org or call the AASV office at 515-465-5255.

What does the PRRS Risk Assessment do? As with anything we try to manage, we must first be able to measure it. The PRRS Risk Assessment is an epidemiological tool developed specifically to measure the risk that a clinical episode of PRRS will occur. A companion database of completed assessments was developed for the purpose of benchmarking and analysis.

Veterinarians have applied the PRRS Risk Assessment for the Breeding Herd in the following ways:

  1. To evaluate current biosecurity protocols and/or to develop new biosecurity protocols to avoid risk
  2. To demonstrate improvement in biosecurity over time to help justify expenditure of resources on measures to improve biosecurity
  3. As an aid in the decision to initiate a project to eliminate PRRSv from a breeding herd site
    1. Also to identify modifiable risk factors in an effort to increase the likelihood that an elimination project will be successful long-term
  4. As an aid in the decision to use a breeding herd site to produce genetic animals
  5. To communicate risks and the importance of biosecurity procedures to clients or production personnel
  6. As part of the due diligence process for purchases or contracting agreements

AASV staff contributed to or researched this story. For more information about the AASV, please visit http://www.aasv.org/.