Prrs Control in the Region

Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS) is recognised as an economically important swine disease worldwide, and is characterised by either reproductive failure in pregnant sows or respiratory tract distress particularly in suckling pigs [7, 32, 37]. The syndrome was first recognised in the United States of America (USA) in the mid 1980’s and was called ‘mystery swine disease’ or ‘blue ear disease’. The causative agent, PRRS virus, was first discovered in the USA in 1987 [1, 4, 36], was subsequently found in Europe [1], and was identified in Asia in the early 1990s [12, 31]. PRRS is the cause of significant economic losses in pig production worldwide, especially in large-scale production systems [2]. In the USA alone, PRRS is estimated to cause about USD 560 million in losses per year to the swine industry [13].