The devastating PRRS variant is expected to move beyond Iowa and Minnesota

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The devastating PRRS variant is expected to move beyond Iowa and Minnesota

A swine fever that has wreaked havoc in Iowa and Minnesota is expected to invade pig farms in other pork-producing states.

Dr. Aaron Lower of the Carthage Veterinary Service in Champaign, Illinois, says a strain of porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS), known as the 1-4-4 L1C variant, has severely hit pork producers in Upper Midwest, partly because it breeds at a very high level.

“So maybe it’s moving a little bit easier than what we’ve seen in the past in terms of a way of occupying regions.”

Unfortunately, he tells Brownfield that the strain will inevitably spread to other states.

“In general, we see that new viruses come from dense areas of pigs, so Iowa and Minnesota are very reasonable about the appearance of something new. And because so many pigs are flowing in that direction, they will slowly move out of that area. But it will be. ”

PRRS 1-4-4 L1C was not found in Illinois. But Lower says, based on a similar strain, it will appear in the next year or two.

Brownfield interviewed Lower Tuesday during the Minnesota Pork Congress in Mankato, Minnesota.