Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica, Inc., (BIVI) announces the four recipients of its annual Advancement in PRRS Research Awards. This year BIVI awarded $100,000 to support four separate studies by independent swine researchers and practitioners in their investigation of novel ways to diagnose, control and eradicate this costly swine disease. The selected research awards for 2009 focus on four important areas of research: The use of biofilters to reduce PRRS virus exhausted from swine barns; the effect of MLV PRRS vaccine alone or in conjunction with killed vaccines on late-term pregnant gilts; risk factors for virus transmission between farrowing and weaning; and the variability of virus sequencing among diagnostic labs.

This is the seventh year that BIVI has sponsored the PRRS research awards, which have been critical in improving the industry’s understanding of the disease. The following are the 2009 research award recipients and their research proposals recognized in March at the American Association of Swine Veterinarians (AASV) Conference in Dallas, Texas:

• Jerry Torrison, DVM, Ph.D., University of Minnesota – A study on the effects of biofilters on the quantity of virus to determine the amount of PRRS virus exhausted from mechanically vented finishing barns versus barns with biofilters placed on the outside of exhaust fans.
  
  
• Darwin Reickes, DVM, Swine Vet Center, St. Peter, Minnesota – A study on the effects of modified-live PRRS vaccine alone or in conjunction with killed-virus vaccines on late-term pregnant gilts.
  
  
• Spencer Wayne, DVM, Pipestone Veterinary Clinic, Pipestone, Minnesota – An evaluation on the ecology of the PRRS virus in farrowing and the risk factors of virus transmission prior to weaning.
  
  

• Amber Stricker, DVM, Suidae Health and Production, Algona, Iowa – A study to determine whether there is a predictable degree of variability in PRRS virus ORF5 sequencing within and among state diagnostic labs.

Butch Baker, DVM, MS, of Iowa State University and AASV board member, served on the PRRS Research Review Board and noted that the large number and quality of the research award proposals received are indicative of the importance PRRS plays in swine productions. “For many swine producers in many parts of the country, PRRS continues to be a very costly and frustrating disease to manage. However, through sponsored research programs, we can find ways to improve current management programs and take the necessary steps toward eradicating this disease.”

Baker also points out that these types of programs place a greater importance on the industry as a whole to improve the existing monitoring, diagnostic and detection processes.

In addition to Baker, members of the PRRS Review Board included: Bill Mengeling, DVM, Ph.D., Iowa State University/NADC (retired), Ames, Iowa; Locke Karriker, DVM, MS, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa; Tim Loula, DVM, Swine Vet Center, St. Peter, Minnesota; Luc Defresne, DVM, Seaboard Farms, Shawnee Mission, Kansas; and Daryl Olsen, DVM, Audubon-Manning Veterinary Clinic, Audubon, Iowa.

The four research proposals were selected based on established criteria that include potential for economic impact to the swine industry; originality and scientific quality; and probability of success in completing the study.

Proposal entries for the 2010 Advancement in PRRS Research Awards are due Jan. 1, 2010. For more information visit www.PRRSresearch.com.