Boehringer Ingelheim Names PRRS Research Award Winners

Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica, Inc. (BIVI) announces the four recipients of its annual Advancement in PRRS Research Awards. This year BIVI awarded $100,000 to support four research efforts investigating novel ways to diagnose, control and eradicate porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus.

This is the eighth year that BIVI has sponsored the PRRS research awards, unveiled in early March at the American Association of Swine Veterinarians (AASV) Annual Meeting in Omaha, NE. The winners include:

• Robert Morrison, DVM, University of Minnesota – A study to compare whole-herd exposure programs as an aid in eliminating PRRS virus from sow herds.
• Paul Yeske, DVM, Swine Vet Center, St. Peter, MN – A study to evaluate airborne shedding of Ingelvac PRRS ATP vaccine in commercial conditions.
• Josh Bowden, DVM, Premium Standard Farms, Princeton, MO – A study to assess the impact of vegetative environmental buffers on local aerosolized spread of PRRS virus.
• Mark Wagner, DVM, Fairmont Veterinary Clinic, Fairmont, MN – A study to evaluate aspirin for reduction of fever and improvement of performance in Isowean pigs with uncomplicated PRRS virus infections.

Paul Ruen, DVM, new president of the AASV from the Fairmont Veterinary Clinic, served on the PRRS Research Review Board, and noted that this year’s committee received a large number of worthy research award proposals.

“The high level of interest in PRRS research is indicative of the importance of this disease in today’s swine production systems,” he explains. “Fortunately, thanks to ongoing research programs such as this, and the efforts of countless veterinarians and researchers across the country, we have made tremendous headway in developing highly effective strategies to better manage PRRS on the farm.”

Proposal entries for the 2011 Advancement in PRRS Research Awards are due Jan. 1, 2011. For more information, visit www.PRRSresearch.com.