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Where State Vet Stands in PRRS Controversy

Bret Marsh, state veterinarian in charge of the Indiana Board of Animal Health, responded to recent concerns about PRRS virus in swine by reactivating the Swine Health Advisory Committee. "We want the committee to explore whether (our) agency needs to take additional action on PRRS, such as testing pigs or limiting movement," says Marsh.

Marsh says BOAH will undertake additional actions to include surveying Indiana's veterinarians to get a sense of the prevalence of PRRS, and suggestions for state action; begin charting the location of PRRS-infected herds using voluntary reporting and the state's herd premises database; and supporting the pilot Northwest Indiana PRRS Control Project.

Marsh announced these actions after getting industry 'buy-in' during a special January 25 meeting of concerned producers- to include the litigants in the lawsuit, veterinarians, Indiana Board of Animal Health staff, state pork producers association leaders and other industry leaders.

The use of planned exposure for PRRS is being challenged in a lawsuit filed in Indiana. The suit accuses a producer of spreading PRRS virus to a neighboring sow operation following the intentional exposure of gilts on a finishing floor. The sow operation reportedly suffered numerous abortions following the introduction of the PRRS virus. The gilt producer argues that the source of the virus in the sow herd is unclear.

"We want to know what you expect of us," stated Marsh upfront at the meeting. "Right now, PRRS is just a reportable disease in Indiana- and not actionable. Infected herds aren't quarantined and we don't regulate the movement of pigs from infected herds. We are treating the disease as it's treated in all major hog-producing states."

Marsh added that BOAH has the legislative authority to do more- such as quarantine and regulate movement- if that's the direction the state ends up going.

"But we need to think through the ramifications of our ideas before we take action," he adds. "We could quarantine and wreck the whole pork industry in our state if we aren't careful. Indiana's pork industry is so interwoven with other states and Canada that we can't make regulatory decisions in isolation.

Full text: Indiana Prairie Farmer