The National Pig Association (NPA) is urging those importing live pigs or semen to only source from herds negative for porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) and unvaccinated for it.
The association is raising awareness of the risks posed by imports in collaboration with the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA), the Pig Veterinary Society, the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB), the Pig Health and Welfare Council and Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC).
The NPA said, in order to keep new diseases and new strains of existing diseases like PRRSV out of the UK, there should be “direct vet to vet discussion” between the importer’s vet and the vet for the herd from which pigs or semen are coming from.
This should be done prior to purchases and importations, the association advised.
NPA chief executive, Lizzie Wilson, said: “This helps to avoid many of the disease risks that could otherwise occur and the vet is then in a good position to advise and interpret pre-import test results.
“Negative pre-import test results are vital. If testing is only done post-import and positive results are obtained, the importer is faced with difficult but important decisions such as whether to send back, or cull, pigs that test positive, as well as the associated costs.
“No one would want to be responsible for placing the national herd at risk by allowing exotic PRRSV strains to be introduced.”
NPA protocol
The NPA’s protocol on pig and semen imports states that they must only be sourced from herds deemed to be free from both PRRSV-1 and PRRSV-2 by routine surveillance and that do not vaccinate against PRRSV.
The association also urges importers to have blood samples from a representative sample of pigs destined for export which were tested 30 days prior to departure.
If any samples are deemed virus positive following testing by PCR, the pigs may not be released for transport to Britain, the NPA said.
As well as this, pigs for importation should test negative for PRRSV antibody and for virus pre-importation.
PRRSV
According to the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH), the porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) is a widespread disease affecting domestic pigs.
The symptoms include reproductive failure, pneumonia and increased susceptibility to secondary bacterial infection.
The WOAH said the transmission of PRRS virus is most often due to the movement of infected animals.
“Pigs born to infected dams may not show disease signs but can still be virus shedders,” it said.
“However, the virus is also found in faeces, urine, and semen and can be spread by vehicles or supplies and even insects have been found as a potential source of spread.
“As well there is the possibility of windborne spread. There is evidence that the disease can also spread through artificial insemination when semen is contaminated with the virus.”
