This is our Friday rubric: every week a new Science Page from the Bob Morrison’s Swine Health Monitoring Project. The previous editions of the science page are available on our website.
This week we are sharing a report by Dr. Daniel Linhares’ lab at Iowa State University. The report summarizes the findings of his study regarding the factors making a sow farm vulnerable for PPRS introduction.
Key Points:
- A model to quantify and identify biosecurity vulnerability in breeding herds is now available.
- Events related to swine movements, transmission by air and water, and people movements were the variables most associated with PRRS outbreak.
- Biosecurity vulnerability scores may help producers/veterinarians prioritize biosecurity investments.
Study Summary:
Herd-specific biosecurity assessments are needed to determine herd-specific risk for PRRS outbreaks. Thus, we developed and validated a biosecurity vulnerability score (BVS) that measures the relative vulnerability of swine breeding herds to PRRSv introduction. The BVS was based on a multi-criteria decision algorithm that ranked risk events associated with outbreaks. A comprehensive biosecurity assessment was used to obtain information of the biosecurity practices from each participating herd. The practices performed in each herd were weighted by the relative importance of each event obtained from an expert opinion panel resulting in a score that identifies the events that should be prioritized. In two independent data sets, the scores consistently revealed that farms with higher scores had a higher frequency of PRRS outbreaks. In addition, results suggest that events related to swine movements,transmission by air and water, and people movements should be prioritized.
Follow-up study:
We are developing a new screening tool to validate the minimum number of questions associated with frequency of PRRS outbreak. Study farms will be asked to fill out a short survey. This can help producers and veterinarians to identify sites at relatively higher risk of PRRSv introduction.
To enroll or to request additional clarification please contact: Gustavo Silva at Iowa State University (gustavos-at-iastate.edu)