Abstract
Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) became pandemic in the 1980's and today remains one of the most significant pathogens of the global swine industry. At the herd level, control of PRRSV is complicated by its extreme genetic diversity and its ability to persist in pigs, despite an active immune response. Ultimately, PRRSV control or elimination requires the coordination and active cooperation of producers and veterinarians at the regional level. Early voluntary PRRSV regional control programs focused on routine diagnostic testing and voluntary data-sharing regarding the PRRSV status of participants' herds, but no pre-defined action plans or decision trees were developed to secure project successes (or recover from failures). Given that control of PRRSV is paramount to producer profitability, we propose a coordinated approach for detecting, controlling, and ultimately eliminating wild-type PRRSV from herds participating in regional projects. Fundamental to project success is real-time, multi-platform communication of all data, information, and events that concern the regional project and project participants. New to this approach is the concept of agreed-upon action plans to be implemented by project participants in response to specific events or situations. The simultaneous and coordinated implementation of these strategies allows for early detection of wild-type PRRSV virus introductions and rapid intervention based on agreed-upon response plans. An example is given of a project in progress in the Midwest USA.
Highlights
Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) is an RNA virus that was first recognized in the late 1980’s and is endemic to commercial swine populations throughout the world [1], divided in types I (European) and II (North American) genotypes
Generation of PRRSV Regional Control Programs producer-driven regional control programs were based on routine diagnostic testing for PRRSV and voluntary data-sharing regarding virus circulation in participants’ herds, with the expectation that data sharing per se would enhance control [7, 8]
We summarize the new classification system proposed by Holtkamp et al [21], which is available in the literature for more details, and should be used in conjunction with PRRSV monitoring based on serum and processing fluid (PF) testing in breeding herds, and oral fluids in growing sites
Summary
PRRSV control or elimination requires the coordination and active cooperation of producers and veterinarians at the regional level. Given that control of PRRSV is paramount to producer profitability, we propose a coordinated approach for detecting, controlling, and eliminating wild-type PRRSV from herds participating in regional projects. Fundamental to project success is real-time, multi-platform communication of all data, information, and events that concern the regional project and project participants. New to this approach is the concept of agreed-upon action plans to be implemented by project participants in response to specific events or situations. The simultaneous and coordinated implementation of these strategies allows for early detection of wild-type PRRSV virus introductions and rapid intervention based on agreed-upon response plans.
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