Veterinarians and Producers Consider PRRS Eradication

September 23, 2009 — 

The AASV has met with the National Pork Board, and interested representatives of the University of Minnesota Swine Disease Eradication Center, Minnesota PRRS Task Force, swine researchers from Iowa State University College of Veterinary Medicine, interested practitioners and PRRS CAP2 researchers to discuss the feasibility of exploring a program to begin the eradication of Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome (PRRS) from the U.S. swine herd.

Discussions regarding the prospect of swine production without PRRS began back in 2005 when the AASV Board of Directors adopted a position statement put forward by then association president Dr. Scott Dee establishing the eradication of the PRRS virus as long-term goal of the association. Since that time veterinarians and producers have consistently achieved the elimination of the virus from individual herds. These successes have prompted the exploration of the challenges associated with viral elimination in production systems and more recently geographic regions. The success of these efforts and the development of tools to assess risks of re-introduction (such as PADRAP and additional diagnostic tools) and minimize those risks (e.g. air filtration, biosecurity, PRRS negative breeding stock, etc.) have stimulated increased interest in pursuing strategies designed to ultimately eradicate this virus from the U.S. swine herd.

The group recently met at the University of Minnesota to discuss terminology used to define the PRRS status of individual herds and classifications of regions involved in a PRRS eradication program. These ideas were subsequently shared with the National Pork Board's Swine Health Committee which instructed the NPB staff to continue to evaluate the feasibility of a program designed to eliminate the virus on a regional basis with the eventual goal of national eradication. The terminology suggestions will be considered by the AASV PRRS Task Force for comment and offered for consideration by the US Animal Health Association's Transmissible Diseases of Swine Committee during its annual meeting in October.

Everyone involved recognizes that this effort is a long-term project and that we may not have all the tools we would like to have to ensure success but the technology is available to eliminate the virus from individual herds and regions. One immediate goal of the effort is to communicate the successful projects currently being undertaken and identify the important criteria that must be in place to realize those successes. This is the next step necessary to move toward a time in which PRRS virus doesn't rob $560 million from the U.S. swine industry on a yearly basis. The path will not be easy and will not be without pitfalls and setbacks but this group believes the goal of eradication is achievable if the effort is coordinated and those involved committed.