News about PRRS

$100,000 for 2009 PRRS Research

2009-06-11

Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica has presented its annual Advancement in Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome Research Awards, worth $100,000 to four veterinary experts in Minnesota and Iowa.

Each year, Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica (BIVI) presents its annual Advancement in Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome Research Awards. This year, BIVI awarded $100,000 to support four separate studies by independent swine researchers and practitioners to find ways to diagnose, control and eradicate PRRS. New research efforts focus on lateral infection, ventilation factors and biosecurity.

This is the seventh year that BIVI has sponsored the PRRS research awards. The following are the 2009 research award recipients and their research proposals:

  • Jerry Torrison, DVM, University of Minnesota, will look at biofilters' effects on the quantity of virus to determine the amount of PRRS virus exhausted from mechanically vented finishing barns versus barns with biofilters placed on the outside of exhaust fans.
  • Darwin Reicks, DVM, Swine Vet Center, St. Peter, Minnesota, will study the effects of modified-live PRRS vaccine alone or in conjunction with killed-virus vaccines on late-term pregnant gilts.
  • Spencer Wayne, DVM, Pipestone Veterinary Clinic, Pipestone, Minnesota, will evaluate the ecology of the PRRS virus in farrowing and virus transmission risk factors prior to weaning.
  • Amber Stricker, DVM, Suidae Health and Production, Algona, Iowa, will study whether there is a predictable degree of variability in PRRS virus ORF5 sequencing within and among state diagnostic laboratories.

Butch Baker, DVM, Iowa State University and American Association of Swine Veterinarians president, served on the PRRS Research Review Board. He was joined by Bill Mengeling, DVM, Iowa State University/National Animal Disease Center (retired); Locke Karriker, DVM, Iowa State University; Tim Loula, DVM, Swine Vet Center, St. Peter, Minn.; Luc Dufresne, DVM, Seaboard Farms; and Daryl Olsen, DVM, Audubon-Manning Veterinary Clinic, Audubon, Iowa.

The research proposals were selected based on established criteria that include potential for economic impact to the pork industry, originality and scientific quality, and probability of success in completing the study.