Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica, Inc. (BIVI) has announced the four recipients of its annual Advancement in PRRS Research Awards.
This year BIVI provided $100,000 in support of four studies by independent producers and practitioners to investigate novel ways to diagnose, control and eradicate porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS).
This is the seventh year that BIVI has sponsored the PRRS research awards. The 2009 awards, presented in March at the American Association of Swine Veterinarians Annual Conference in Dallas, TX, are as follows:
--Jerry Torrison, DVM, University of Minnesota – A study on the effects of biofilters on the quantity of virus to determine the amount of PRRS virus exhausted from mechanically vented finishing barns vs. barns with biofilters placed on the outside of exhaust fans.
--Darwin Reicks, DVM, Swine Vet Center, St. Peter, MN – A study on the effects of modified-live PRRS vaccine alone or in conjunction with killed-virus vaccines on late-term pregnant gilts.
--Spencer Wayne, DVM, Pipestone (MN) Veterinary Clinic – An evaluation on the ecology of the PRRS virus in farrowing and the risk factors of virus transmission prior to weaning.
--Amber Stricker, DVM, Suidae Health and Production, Algona, IA – A study to determine if there is a predictable degree of variability in PRRS virus sequencing (ORF5) within and among state diagnostic labs.
The entries for the 2010 Advancement in PRRS Research Awards are due Jan. 1, 2010. For more information, visit their website.