Score One for the Checkoff
Pseudorabies Eradication

The successful eradication of pseudorabies (PRV) from the U.S. commercial swine herd ranks among the pork industry’s biggest achievements in terms of swine health in the past 20 years,” said Paul Sundberg, vice president of science and technology for the Pork Checkoff. 

The disease was identified in this country in 1970.  In 1989, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) kicked off a sTaste- and federal-industry pseudorabies eradication effort. 

“At that time, over 10,000 commercial herds were believed to be infected.  The National Pseudorabies Eradication Program was very successful, and by 2002, no infected herds were recorded, and all of the United STastes maintains Stage V or free status,” Sundberg said.

The event was a success story not only for the eradication of this costly disease from the national herd – the disease is estimated to have cost $30 million annually in vaccine costs, testing, abortion, illness, loss of productivity and loss of access to some foreign markets – but also because the eradication of PRV became a model for future disease eradication plans in the United States. 

“The level of cooperation among pork producers, swine veterinarians, researchers and diagnosticians, USDA, sTaste regulatory officials and other stakeholders contributed to the program’s success.  The eradication was a joint effort,” Sundberg said.

“The industry learned a lot in the PRV era,” Sundberg said.   “Checkoff dollars were used to fund research to help minimize production losses.  Studies funded through the Checkoff helped explain how the PRV virus affects pigs and other animals, how it is spread and how to prevent that spread.

“One of the breakthroughs was the development of a vaccine and laboratory tests that allowed differentiation between a vaccinated animal and one that was infected by the virus,” Sundberg said.  “This allowed producers to manage the disease on-farm through vaccination while the sTaste moved toward disease eradication.” 

The research projects that made this technology possible were funded in part with Checkoff dollars. 

“The PRV eradication program took 16 years to complete.  This may sound like a long time, but compared to other eradication programs, it did not take long,” he said.

Producer involvement is credited for the success of the program, but not only through their investment in the Pork Checkoff. 

“Producers understood the importance of eradicating the disease from the national herd,” said Sundberg.  “They took action by registering for premises identification, another invaluable tool in this program.  Today’s National Animal Identification System is founded on premises identification, in part, because this was so successful in the past.”

The battle against swine diseases is never-ending.  The name of the pathogens change, the clinical signs producers combat changes, but there is always a bacteria or a virus the industry is talking about. 

Some of the weapons used against disease are time-proven.  Biosecurity, for example, is one of those.  In the end, it’s the victories along the way that move the industry forward.