Dr. Reid Philips is in an expert on Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome (PRRS) who shared his knowledge in a presentation during the American Association of Swine Veterinarians conference in New Orleans. Phillips is a swine veterinarian in the Swine Health Division of Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica (BIVI) who serves as the Technical Manager for the PRRS virus. One of BIVI’s key products is its Ingelvac PRRS MLV, a modified-live PRRS vaccine that helps to protect the pigs against respiratory and reproductive symptoms of PRRS.
During his conference presentation, Phillips focused on a recent PRRS challenge dose study. It looked to evaluate the effect of challenged dose vaccinated pigs. He explained that challenge dose looks at vaccinates and non-vaccinates and then challenges them with an infectious dose of the PRRS virus and then measures the outcome. “So what this study compared is vaccinated pigs to non vaccinated pigs and then challenging those different groups with different levels of virus,” said Phillips.
Phillips said they learned that vaccinated pigs perform better than non vaccinated pigs. “The vaccine helps pigs mitigate the consequences of infection,” he said. For example average daily weight gain, saw the same performance as pigs that were not challenged.
More interestingly, pigs challenged with two logs or less performed equal to pigs that were not challenged. This is important for producers in that immunity matters. Pigs vaccinated who are challenged with the virus are performing as well as pigs who have never been exposed to the virus. “This is cool stuff,” added Phillips.
Learn more in this interview: Interview with Dr. Reid Phillips, BIVI
BIVI 2016 AASV Meeting Photo Album
