- Expertise article
- Monte B. McCaw
One of the main challenges in an acute outbreak of porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS) is the need to control pre-weaning and nursery mortality. Vaccinating piglets is a recommended method for controlling PRRSV in nursery pigs. Sow vaccination has also been attempted to prevent reproductive and possibly nursery pig disease, but vaccine should be administered only to nonpregnant sows. Several investigators have questioned the use of modified-live PRRSV vaccine in late-term naive gestating sows (an unapproved use) to control acute reproductive losses and to minimize preweaning mortality. Furthermore, other investigators have noted outbreaks of disease in well-vaccinated herds, suggesting that the vaccine might not protect against the full range of different field isolates. None of these measures controls PRRS-associated disease losses in suckling pigs during acute outbreaks or in herds with endemic PRRS.