Boehringer Ingelheim Announces 2010 PRRS Research Award Recipients

2010-03-17

Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica, Inc., (BIVI) announces the four recipients of its annual Advancement in PRRS Research Awards.

This year BIVI awarded $100,000 to support four separate studies by independent swine researchers and practitioners in their investigation of novel ways to diagnose, control and eradicate this costly swine disease. 2010 BIVI PRRS Research Award winners: Drs. Robert Morrison, Mark Wagner, Paul Yeske and Josh Bowden.

The selected research awards for 2010 focus on four important areas of research: the comparison of whole-herd exposure programmes for sow farms; airborne shedding of PRRS virus; assessing vegetative environmental buffers on transmission; and evaluating aspirin as supportive or symptomatic treatment for PRRS infection in pigs.

This is the eighth year that BIVI has sponsored the PRRS research awards, which have been critical in improving the industry’s understanding of the disease. Following are the 2010 research award recipients and their research proposals recognised in March at the American Association of Swine Veterinarians (AASV) Conference in Omaha, Nebraska:

• Robert Morrison, DVM, Ph.D., University of Minnesota – A study to compare whole-herd exposure programs as an aid in eliminating PRRS virus from sow herds.
• Paul Yeske, DVM, MS, Swine Vet Center, St. Peter, Minnesota – A study to evaluate airborne shedding of Ingelvac® PRRS ATP vaccine in commercial conditions.
• Josh Bowden, DVM, MS, Premium Standard Farms, Inc., Princeton, Missouri – A study to assess the impact of vegetative environmental buffers on local aerosolised spread of PRRS virus.
• Mark Wagner, DVM, Fairmont Veterinary Clinic, Fairmont, Minnesota – A study to evaluate aspirin for reduction of fever and improvement of performance in isowean pigs with uncomplicated PRRS virus infections.

Paul Ruen, DVM, vice president of the American Association of Swine Veterinarians, served on the PRRS Research Review Board and noted that this year’s committee received a large number of research award proposals, all well-presented and worthy of consideration.

“The high level of interest in PRRS research is indicative of the importance of this disease in today’s swine production systems,” Ruen explained. “Fortunately, thanks to ongoing research programs such as this, and the efforts of countless veterinarians and researchers across the country, we have made tremendous headway in developing highly effective strategies to better manage PRRS on the farm.” In addition to Ruen, members of the PRRS Review Board included: Bill Mengeling, DVM, Ph.D., Iowa State University/NADC (retired), Ames, Iowa; Montse Torremorell, DVM, Ph.D., University of Minnesota; Tim Loula, DVM, Swine Vet Center, St. Peter, Minnesota; Luc Defresne, DVM, Seaboard Farms, Shawnee Mission, Kansas; and Daryl Olsen, DVM, Audubon-Manning Veterinary Clinic, Audubon, Iowa.

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