In an effort to help swine veterinarians and producers find effective measures for managing porcine epidemic diarrhea (PED), Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica, Inc. (BIVI) launched two PED-focused initiatives during their Swine Health Seminar in Dallas, Texas on February 28, 2014 which coincided with the American Association of Swine Veterinarians Annual Meeting.

The first initiative, according to Greg Cline, DVM, technical manager of swine enteric disease at BIVI, is a PED applied research commitment of up to $50,000 in research funds supporting the development of knowledge and tools targeting the practical management of PED.

“We will be focused on helping the industry to find answers to some of the most critical questions regarding PED,” noted Cline in an interview. “From our long research history with PRRS, Lawsonia intracellularis, PCV2 and other diseases, we continue our commitment to finding solutions through applicable research targeted toward the tough problems that plague the swine industry.”

The second initiative is the “PED News” service that BIVI is sponsoring in partnership with the University of Californi, Davis’ Center of Animal Disease Modeling and Surveillance (CADMS) department. Cline said the program is similar to CADMS’ “FMD News” service where subscribers can receive news clips daily or weekly from around the world that highlights all the news and research related to PED.

“We saw a need for this type of information-sharing service to help the North American swine industry stay as current as possible with the all the PED-related information,” said Cline who noted that the disease was first identified in the U.S. in April of 2013 and to date, there is no vaccine or antibiotic available to fight the disease. He said that these two initiatives were designed to help discover, coordinate and share information related to PED that may be useful in helping vets and producers better prevent, manage and control this disease.

“Because this highly contagious disease is relatively new to the U.S. and its impact on producers can be so devastating, it’s critical that everyone work together to find effective solutions and share information,” Cline said. “These two initiatives should help us to better understand this highly contagious disease and how to more effectively manage PED.”

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Listen my my interview with Greg Cline here: BIVI Launches Two PED Initiatives

Check out the BIVI guest adventures in the BIVI Big D Swine Health Seminar photo album.