REYNOLDSBURG, Ohio – After more than 20 years of work by the Ohio Department of Agriculture and the swine industry, Ohio received its pseudorabies virus-free status from the USDA’s Animal and Plant Inspection Service.
The new status designates that every herd in Ohio is free of pseudorabies, said Ohio Agriculture Director Fred L. Dailey. It also means there are no more PRV-testing requirements on Ohio hogs shipped between states or within the state and there are no restrictions on slaughter hogs moving into Canada.
About the disease.
Pseudorabies, or Aujesky’s disease, is a viral infection of swine that causes respiratory problems in pigs, high mortality of baby pigs, pneumonia in feeder pigs, and infertility in sows. It is incurable and is easily spread between farms and can also produce latent swine infections.
Although Ohio has achieved PRV-free status, the ODA will continue monitoring efforts through blood samples collected at slaughter.
In the event of a positive test result, Ohio could maintain its Stage V, or PRV-free, status with USDA review, but a particular region where a positive is found would be downgraded to a previous stage.
Rules remain in effect with states still in Stages II and III. Stage II states have a monitoring system in effect and have quarantine authority, while Stage III states have less than 1 percent pseudorabies infection, an active surveillance program, and mandatory clean-up procedures in affected herds.
A state in Stage IV status is free of pseudorabies but must remain free of the disease for 12 months before it can advance to Stage V.
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