The North American PRRS Symposium took place in Chicago over the weekend. Boehringer Ingelheim’s sponsored PRRS session was centered around coordinating efforts for area disease control. The 20th anniversary of global PRRS solutions brought together the leading researchers and veterinarians to drive the discussion on the next steps to tackling the long-standing virus.

One of the keynote speakers was Dr. Joe Connor, veterinarian at Carthage Vet Service. He was involved in the eradication of PRV and shared a historical perspective of Area Regional Control (ARC) in PRV and what lessons learned during that time-period can be applied to the control and elimination of PRRS.

The charts that Dr. Connor shared showed many clear similarities in the two diseases, however PRRS is still around and PRV isn’t. So, what are the differences that are restricting progress? “At the end of the PRV program we had very highly effective vaccines, particularly a vaccine that would prevent the transfer of the virus to the fetus. We have effective vaccines for PRRS, but they don’t prevent the transfer of the virus. When sow herds become infected, we get discouraged because we go back to having abortions, weak pigs and higher mortality.”

However, Dr. Connor said if we are patient and focus on individual herds and areas all the tools we have today have been and will continue to be successful.

Listen to my complete interview with Dr. Connor to learn more about the comparison of PRV and PRRS along with the global perspective of this virus here: Interview with Dr. Joe Connor, Carthage Vet School

Find all the photos from the event here: 2014 BIVI PRRS Seminar Photo Album