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Devastating PRRS variant expected to move beyond Iowa and Minnesota

A swine virus that’s wreaked havoc in Iowa and Minnesota is expected to invade pig farms in other pork producing states.

Dr. Aaron Lower with 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 hit pork producers in the Upper Midwest hard partly because it replicates at a very high level.

“So maybe it’s moving around a bit more easily than what we’ve seen in the past as far as sort of taking regions over.”

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

“We generally see new viruses come out of pig-dense areas, so Iowa and Minnesota are very reasonable with regard to something new popping up. And because a lot of the pigs flow up that direction, it’s slowly going to move out of that area. But it will.”

PRRS 1-4-4 L1C has not been 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 Minnesota Pork Congress in Mankato, Minnesota.