July 5, 2007

Virginia continues pseudorabies disease-free status

The USDA recently announced that Virginia qualifies to continue its status as a pseudorabies, brucellosis, and tuberculosis-free state.

This means the state is free of any known incidence of these diseases in domestic livestock species.

Virginia has maintained its brucellosis free status since 1988. That status is important for

Virginia for both animal health and economic reasons, said Dr. Richard Wilkes, state veterinarian and director of the Division of Animal and Food Industry Services at the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (VDACS).

The status is like a stamp of approval from the USDA that the animals from the state are disease-free, he added. This would have positive implications for livestock farmers in the state, he said.

Pseudorabies is a disease of swine caused by a herpes virus. It is highly contagious among swine and is occasionally transmitted to other animal speices. The disease causes high mortality in young piglets and infection during pregnancy and usually results in fetal death and abortion.

The National Pseudorabies Eradication State-Federal-Industry Program is a five-stage program to rid the U. S. of this costly disease, and being declared free is the fifth and final step. All 50 states are now recognized as having no incidence of pseudorabies in commercial swine.