Veterinarian calls for more participation in swine health monitoring project

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Veterinarian calls for more participation in swine health monitoring project

A veterinarian and swine specialist says a swine health monitoring program needs more participation from all types of pork producers.

Dr. Neil DeBuse with the Minnesota Swine Reproduction Center says many states participate in a swine health monitoring program through the University of Minnesota, where Dr. Bob Morris gathers data on the Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome (PRRS) and Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea (PEDV) viruses. 

DeBuse says large farms already participate in the program, but it would be good if Wisconsin participated in the program, and if more pig show exhibitors got involved.  DeBuse says most 4-H exhibitors might show at the county fair and maybe the state fair but, “There’s a set of producers that are much more active going to shows that are out of state. They might go to the Southwest Type Conference at Louisville or the World Pork Expo pig show in Des Moines, and when you go out of state and come back, we create animal movement so we create risk.”

DeBuse says Wisconsin has state regulation of animal movement, which several states do not have, and that helps control the spread of disease. “PRRS control in general in these other projects that started earlier than Wisconsin’s kind of faded because they didn’t have the ability to control animal movement. They relied on vaccination but they didn’t handle the new strain introduction because they weren’t controlling the pig movements.”

DeBuse told the Wisconsin Pork Association’s annual meeting the state has fewer PRRS and PEDV cases in part because of its animal movement regulations and because of its smaller number of animals. “Minnesota imports more pigs in a weekend than Wisconsin imports all year, and I’m not talking about Iowa yet. Iowa imports five times more pigs in a week.”

DeBuse made his comments to the Wisconsin Pork Association’s annual meeting in Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin Wednesday.

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