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PRRS Corner: PRRS Incidence Pilot Project

For some farms and systems, this was a bad year for PRRS. But we really have little idea how bad it was for the industry – and hence there is much rumor and speculation. At the request of the AASV PRRS task force, we started a pilot project in December, 2011 to try and measure PRRS incidence; that is, the rate of new infection. We contacted several large systems and asked if they would be willing to share their PRRS status of sow farms on a weekly basis. Five systems agreed and compose 192 sow farms with approximately 500,000 sows. They are not a random sample and don’t reflect the industry. But the PRRS picture they have reported is strikingly similar to each other and leads to various questions on mechanisms for dissemination of PRRS virus. As of this week, 49% of farms within this cohort have recorded having a new virus infection since July 1, 2011. The incidence accelerated in mid-November and subsided in late March. Interestingly, there was a second mini-epidemic starting in late April that is currently subsiding. Looking back at historical data within these 5 systems, the pattern is similar. To emphasize, these farms are a select group of systems that are not representative of the industry. They are sharing their PRRS data on a voluntary basis. Click here to see the incidence chart. We appreciate the support of the systems involved, and funding from NPB, USDA PRRS CAP and SDEC.