Industry Continues to Search For PCVAD Answers

US - While most swine producers are familiar with the signs and symptoms associated with diseases such as porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS) or the swine influenza virus (SIV), porcine circovirus associated disease (PCVAD) is not entirely understood and is becoming a growing concern in the United States swine industry.

Industry Continues to Search For PCVAD Answers US - While most swine producers are familiar with the signs and symptoms associated with diseases such as porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS) or the swine influenza virus (SIV), porcine circovirus associated disease (PCVAD) is not entirely understood and is becoming a growing concern in the United States swine industry.

Breaking out first in Canada and Europe, porcine circovirus type 2 is now found in swine operations across the United States. Porcine circovirus is a small DNA virus. The first strain, porcine circovirus type 1, has not been found to cause any disease in swine. On the other hand, the second strain, porcine circovirus type 2, can leave a negative impact on swine from nursery age to grow/finish.

"It’s a very expensive disease when it becomes active, and that is the reason for all of the attention," says Dr. Thomas Gillespie of Rensselaer Swine Services in Rensselaer, Indiana.

Gillespie, who has served as the chair of the American Association of Swine Veterinarians' PCV2 Ad Hoc Committee since March 2006, says studies have shown when the disease is active in a grow/finish unit, it can cost a producer more than $6 per pig.

"In PRRS negative herds, PCVAD can play a major economic role in impairing biological and economical performance in growing pigs," Gillespie states.

To continue reading this article please click here

Ann Kopecky, Alltec Inc., via Farms.com

© 5M Enterprises Ltd.
2000 - 2007
No part of this site may be
reproduced without permission

5M Enterprises Ltd., 4 Haywood House, Hydra Business Park, Nether Lane, Sheffield, S35 9ZX, England.

Co. Registration 3332321 - A Benchmark Holdings Ltd. Company