Sometimes finding the right way to control diseases in animals just takes a little magic – so that is what Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica, Inc. is using to figure out just what it will take to get a handle on PCV-AD – or Porcine Circovirus Associated Diseases.

PCV is a virus that is actually present in virtually every swine herd in the world, but it has only become a problem in the last couple of years and Boehringer Ingelheim is trying to find out why it seems to be interacting with other hog diseases like PRRS and Salmonella and causing very high mortality rates.

I attended an informational meeting for media and veterinarians yesterday in Ames, Iowa where we learned all about PCV-AD and MAGIC, which stands for Monitoring Assignment for a Global Insight Into Circovirus diseases. Boehringer Ingelheim is doing an intensive study of swine herds confirmed to have PCV-AD that involves getting specific tissue samples from animals at various growth stages to try and come up with management practices that can alleviate the problem and ultimately develop a vaccine. They send out a Magic box full of carefully labeled baggies and jars for the samples, which are then sent back to Boehringer Ingelheim’s certified lab in Ames (pictured) for evaluation.

I interviewed John Kolb, Technical Manager for the project, about what MAGIC is and what they hope to accomplish. John Kolb.