By the University of Minnesota Swine Group
The reporting on April 30, 2026 of pigs positive to pseudorabies in Iowa and Texas is a good reminder that we cannot be complacent when it comes to infectious diseases.
Pseudorabies virus (PRV) causes a devastating clinical picture resembling rabies in young pigs, thus the name. This disease, also known as Aujeszky’s disease, is most severe in piglets, causing high mortality as well as tremors, seizures, paralysis, incoordination and “dog-sitting” signs. As they get older, infected pigs experience respiratory disease with fever, coughing, and pneumonia. In sows, PRV causes abortions and stillbirths and in boars the virus can be shed in semen. PRV transmits primarily by direct contact with secretions of infected pigs but other routes such as exposure to contaminated fomites or aerosols can lead to infection.
Continue reading “What you need to know about pseudorabies”