CTAHR NEWS

Hog Healthy

  • 15 March 2019
  • Author: Frederika Bain
  • Number of views: 5747
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Hog Healthy

Swine Extension at CTAHR can look back at a job well done, saving pigs from disease and producers from loss. When Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome (PRRS) first appeared in the Wai‘anae area in 1996, it caused devastating losses to swine farms. Swine specialist Halina Zaleski (pictured) and then-Cooperative Extension veterinarian Brad LeaMaster, in partnership with the Hawai‘i Department of Agriculture, responded by vaccinating all sows in the area to stop the spread of the disease. They also recommended several steps to prevent new introductions and further spread of the disease, which were taken: movement of pigs from Wai‘anae to other parts of the state was ended. Halina taught swine producers to use artificial insemination instead of importing live pigs to improve their herds’ genetics. Youth in the 4-H livestock program agreed to raise only local hogs instead of importing show pigs from the Mainland. All these precautions worked: a survey in 2017 by Halina’s graduate students Naomi Ogasawara and Brittany Castle confirmed that much of the state remained free of PRRS. According to calculations for the Mainland US by D.J. Holtkamp and co-investigators, PRRS costs producers $4.67 per pig sold per year. Using these costs, preventing the spread of PRRS in Hawai‘i is estimated to have saved the swine industry $507,610 over the last 21 years!

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