In conjunction with the recent Swine Health Seminar in Dallas, Texas, Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica, Inc. (BIVI) announced the winners of its Advancement in PRRS Research Awards during the American Association of Swine Veterinarians (AASV) Conference. The awards are designed to encourage ongoing discoveries in practical approaches to disease management.

“The recent emergence of PED virus reminds us of the importance of ongoing research in helping the swine industry deal with the constant threat of disease,” said incoming AASV President Michelle Sprague, DVM, with Audubon Manning Veterinary Clinic (AMVC) in Audubon, Iowa. “Longstanding research programs like the BIVI PRRS research awards do provide the practical, effective results that veterinarians can utilize to better diagnose, prevent and control PRRS. As a swine veterinarian, I see firsthand on swine farms the benefits these research programs provide.”

BIVI awarded $75,000 to support three separate studies by independent swine disease researchers and practitioners in their investigations of novel ways to diagnose, control and eliminate PRRS. The selected PRRS studies focus on three important areas of disease research:

• The effect of maternal PRRS immunity in pigs vaccinated with PRRS MLV vaccine and subsequently challenged with a heterologous PRRSV.  Winner: Brad Leuwerke, DVM, Swine Vet Center, St. Peter, Minnesota for his research on the Effect of maternal PRRS immunity on the response of pigs to vaccination with a homologous modified-live vaccine and subsequent response to heterologous PRRS virus challenge.
• Helping veterinarians and producers differentiate new PRRS virus incursions from resident strains. Winner: Andres Perez, DVM, PhD, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, Minnesota for his research on the Differentiating new PRRS virus incursions from resident virus strains.
• Improving oral fluid diagnostics. Winner: Jeff Zimmerman, DVM, PhD, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa for his research on Cleaning up oral fluid samples for improved diagnostics.

Sprague noted, “It is through this initiative that we have discovered many management practices that can give producers practical applications to implement to not only impact their own operations but also those of their neighbors.”

BIVI says their sponsored research awards have been critical in the development of less costly, more reliable diagnostic testing and sampling processes, as well as identifying more effective biosecurity, risk assessment and vaccination strategies. All total, the company has contributed $912,500 through the PRRS research awards to fund 37 separate research projects.