PRRS Surveillance in breeding herds and nurseries using tongue tips

 Vet Sci

. 2021 Nov 2;8(11):259.

 doi: 10.3390/vetsci8110259.

Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome Surveillance in breeding Herds and Nurseries Using Tongue Tips from Dead Animals

Jordi Baliellas 1, Elena Novell 1, Vicens Enric-Tarancón 1, Carles Vilalta 2, Lorenzo Fraile 3 4

Affiliations 

Affiliations

• 1Grup de Sanejament Porcí, 25192 Lleida, Spain.
• 2Upnorth Analytics, Arbeca, 25140 Lleida, Spain.
• 3Agrotecnio Center, 25198 Lleida, Spain.
• 4Departament de Ciència Animal, ETSEA, University de Lleida, 25198 Lleida, Spain.

• PMID: 34822632
 
• PMCID: PMC8625958
 
• DOI: 10.3390/vetsci8110259

Free PMC article

Abstract

The detection capacity of Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome virus (PRRSV) in tongues from dead animals in breeding herds (stillborns and piglets dying during the lactating period) and nursery farms (naturally dead animals) for PRRSV surveillance was evaluated. The samples were selected if pairs of serum and tongues were available from 2018 to 2020. Serum (pools of five) and exudate from tongues (one bag) were analyzed by PRRSV RT-PCR. The agreement between the serum sample procedure versus tongues exudate was assessed using a concordance test (Kappa statistic) at batch level. A total of 32 submissions, corresponding to 14 farms, had PRRSV diagnostic information for serum and tongues exudate. The overall agreement of batch classification as positive or negative, based on RT-PCR PRRSV results, between serum and tongue exudate of the 32 pairs was 76.9%. Cohen's Kappa was 0.55. The main discrepancy came from the presence of positive samples in tongues exudate and not in serum, suggesting that tongue exudate to monitor PRRSV seems to be more sensitive than serum. These results suggest that this sample procedure could be also used for PRRSV surveillance and monitoring.

Keywords: PRRSV; monitoring; swine; tongues exudate.

 Front Vet Sci

. 2021 Nov 5;8:769312.

 doi: 10.3389/fvets.2021.769312. eCollection 2021.

Next Generation of Voluntary PRRS Virus Regional Control Programs

Edison S Magalhães 1, Jeffrey J Zimmerman 1, Derald J Holtkamp 1, Dyneah M Classen 2, Douglas D Groth 2, Lauren Glowzenski 3, Reid Philips 4, Gustavo S Silva 1, Daniel C L Linhares 1

Affiliations 

Affiliations

• 1Department of Veterinary Diagnostic and Production Animal Medicine, College of Veterinary Medicine, Iowa State University, Ames, IA, United States.
• 2Carthage Veterinary Service, Ltd., Carthage, IL, United States.
• 3TriOak Foods Inc., Oakville, IA, United States.
• 4Boehringer Ingelheim Animal Health USA Inc., Atlanta, GA, United States.

• PMID: 34805344
 
• PMCID: PMC8602550
 
• DOI: 10.3389/fvets.2021.769312

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.

Keywords: PRRS (porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus); elimination; monitoring; regional; swine.

Copyright © 2021 Magalhães, Zimmerman, Holtkamp, Classen, Groth, Glowzenski, Philips, Silva and Linhares.

Whole-herd risk factors associated with wean-to-finish mortality (in the US)

 Prev Vet Med

. 2021 Nov 18;198:105545.

 doi: 10.1016/j.prevetmed.2021.105545.Online ahead of print.

Whole-herd risk factors associated with wean-to-finish mortality under the conditions of a Midwestern USA swine production system

Edison S Magalhães 1, Jeffrey J Zimmerman 1, Pete Thomas 2, Cesar A A Moura 2, Giovani Trevisan 1, Derald J Holtkamp 1, Chong Wang 3, Christopher Rademacher 1, Gustavo S Silva 1, Daniel C L Linhares 4

Affiliations 

• PMID: 34801793
 
• DOI: 10.1016/j.prevetmed.2021.105545

Abstract

Swine wean-to-finish (W2F) mortality is a multifactorial, dynamic process and a key performance indicator of commercial swine production. Although swine producers typically capture the relevant data, analysis of W2F mortality risk factors is often hindered by the fact that, even if data is available, they are typically in different formats, non-uniform, and dispersed among multiple unconnected databases. In this study, an automated framework was created to link multiple data streams to specific cohorts of market animals, including sow farm productivity parameters, sow farm and growing pig health factors, facilities, management factors, and closeout data from a Midwestern USA production system. The final dataset (master-table) contained breeding-to-market data for 1,316 cohorts of pigs marketed between July 2018 and June 2019. Following integration into a master-table, continuous explanatory variables were categorized into quartiles averages, and the W2F mortality was log-transformed, reporting geometric mean mortality of 8.69 % for the study population. Further, univariate analyses were performed to identify individual variables associated with W2F mortality (p < 0.10) for further inclusion in a multivariable model, where model selection was applied. The final multivariable model consisted of 13 risk factors and accounted for 68.2 % (R2) of the variability of the W2F mortality, demonstrating that sow farm health and performance are closely linked to downstream W2F mortality. Higher sow farm productivity was associated with lower subsequent W2F mortality and, conversely, lower sow farm productivity with higher W2F mortality e.g., groups weaned in the highest quartiles for pre-weaning mortality and abortion rate had 13.5 %, and 12.5 %, respectively, which was statistically lower than the lowest quartiles for the same variables (10.5 %, and 10.6 %). Moreover, better sow farm health status was also associated with lower subsequent W2F mortality. A significant difference was detected in W2F mortality between epidemic versus negative groups for porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (15.4 % vs 8.7 %), and Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae epidemic versus negative groups (13.7 % vs 9.9 %). Overall, this study demonstrated the application of a whole-herd analysis by aggregating information of the pre-weaning phase with the post-weaning phase (breeding-to-market) to identify and measure the major risk factors of W2F mortality.

Keywords: Mortality; Risk factors; Swine; Wean-to-finish; Whole-herd.

Emergence of a New Lineage 1C Variant of PRRSV-2 in the United States

 

2021 Oct 18;8:752938. doi: 10.3389/fvets.2021.752938. eCollection 2021.

Emergence of a New Lineage 1C Variant of Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome Virus 2 in the United States

Mariana Kikuti  ¹ , Igor A D Paploski  ¹ , Nakarin Pamornchainavakul  ¹ , Catalina Picasso-Risso  ¹ , Mark Schwartz  ^{1   2} , Paul Yeske  ³ , Brad Leuwerke  ³ , Laura Bruner  ³ , Deborah Murray  ⁴ , Brian D Roggow  ⁵ , Pete Thomas  ⁶ , Lori Feldmann  ⁷ , Matt Allerson  ⁸ , Melissa Hensch  ⁹ , Tyler Bauman  ⁹ , Brent Sexton  ⁹ , Albert Rovira  ¹ , Kimberly VanderWaal  ¹ , Cesar A Corzo  ¹

Abstract

We report an ongoing regional outbreak of an emerging porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV2) variant within Lineage 1C affecting 154 breeding and grow-finishing sites in the Midwestern U.S. Transmission seemed to have occurred in two waves, with the first peak of weekly cases occurring between October and December 2020 and the second starting in April 2021. Most of cases occurred within a 120 km radius. Both orf5 and whole genome sequencing results suggest that this represents the emergence of a new variant within Lineage 1C distinct from what has been previously circulating. A case-control study was conducted with 50 cases (sites affected with the newly emerged variant) and 58 controls (sites affected with other PRRSV variants) between October and December 2020. Sites that had a market vehicle that was not exclusive to the production system had 0.04 times the odds of being a case than a control. A spatial cluster (81.42 km radius) with 1.68 times higher the number of cases than controls was found. The average finishing mortality within the first 4 weeks after detection was higher amongst cases (4.50%) than controls (0.01%). The transmission of a highly similar virus between different farms carrying on trough spring rises concerns for the next high transmission season of PRRS.

Keywords: disease outbreak; epidemics; epidemiology; porcine reproductive and respiratory disease virus; swine diseases.

Copyright © 2021 Kikuti, Paploski, Pamornchainavakul, Picasso-Risso, Schwartz, Yeske, Leuwerke, Bruner, Murray, Roggow, Thomas, Feldmann, Allerson, Hensch, Bauman, Sexton, Rovira, VanderWaal and Corzo.