PRRS – Swine in Minnesota

Recombinants Are the Key Drivers of Recent PRRSV-2 Evolution

The Schroeder’s lab at the University of Minnesota College of Veterinary Medicine recently published a brief report in the journal Pathogens regarding a likely cause of Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Virus type 2 evolution.

PRRSV variants under monitoring

Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus is a major threat to pig production worldwide. The virus is constantly changing, with new variants appearing every year. Some of these new variants can spread more easily or have a greater impact on your herd’s health and productivity. An example is the emergence of a new PRRSV variant named 1C.5 (previously referred to as L1C 1-4-4, or 1-4-4) in late 2020. In the past, monitoring systems have had a difficulty identifying new variants like this quickly enough to allow for a rapid response, and they often focused on describing epidemics that had already happened.

Assessment of PRRSV Trailer Contamination at the Harvest Facility

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.

In today’s Science Page, University of Minnesota researchers Lucas Ferreira, Mark Schwartz, Marie Culhane, and Cesar A Corzo share preliminary findings from their study on transport biosecurity.

Practical implications of PRRSV testing in pre-farrow and post-farrow sows using TOSC samples and their respective litters

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.

In today’s Science Page we bring you a summary of research on tonsil oral scrubbing done by Peng Li, Isadora Machado, Thomas Petznick, Emily Pratt, Jinnan Xiao, Chris Sievers, Paul Yeske, Swami Jayaraman, Daniel C. A. Moraes, Guilherme Cezar, Mafalda Mil-Homens, Hao Tong, Kelly Will, Darwin Reicks, Jason Kelly, Onyekachukwu H. Osemeke, Gustavo S. Silva and Daniel C. L. Linhares.

Is PRRSV 1C.5 more airborne than other variants?

Picture of an industrial fan generated by AI — Photo by Layla, generated with AI

The rapid spread of porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus variant 1C.5 (aka L1C 1-4-4) a few years ago prompted the question whether this newly identified PRRSV variant was more transmissible through the air than other endemic variants circulating at that time in pigs.

The Torremorell research lab, in collaboration with faculty in the Swine Group at the University of Minnesota College of Veterinary Medicine and faculty in Mechanical Engineering sought to answer the question whether aerosolization of clinically relevant PRRS virus differs among variants and if so, are the differences due to the particle size, load and viability of virus-laden aerosols, and whether infected pigs with different clinical affectation differ in their ability to generate airborne viruses. To address this question, we systematically evaluated the stability of variants in experimentally generated aerosols and also compared levels and trends of virus-laden particles in aerosols collected from experimentally infected pigs.