Pseudorabies (Aujeszky’s Disease) and Its Eradication: A Review of the U.S. Experience

Abstract

This report has been written to serve as a history of the U.S. Aujeszky’s Disease (Pseudorabies) Eradication Program and as a guide when future disease eradication programs are considered. The report provides an overview of the program and its history and is generally nontechnical, with specific sections written by subject matter experts. The information was compiled during 2007, three years after the last four States qualified for Stage V (Free) Status. This eradication effort was formally initiated in 1989. The contents of this report include a variety of information that represents the viewpoints of individuals participating in the eradication effort. To introduce the challenge of pseudorabies (PRV), the report covers characteristics of the virus and the history of the disease in the United States, followed by the emergence of virulent strains in the 1970s that coincided with management changes in the swine industry. The report also discusses early attempts at PRV control, vaccines, and diagnostic tools, and then reviews various pilot projects, individual State experiences, and national debate on the pros and cons of eradication versus control. In addition, the report offers details on the evolution and acceptance of a national eradication program, including debate among industry and State/Federal officials, funding, testing protocols, cleanup plans, and the development of gene-deleted vaccines and their complementary tests. The ongoing threat of reintroduction from feral swine and emergency response plans are also included. Lastly, the technical coordinators have included a chapter on lessons learned from our various viewpoints on the eradication effort.

Development and application of Whole-herd-Sampling, qPCR-based- Testing, and Precision-Removal methods to Eliminate ASFV in Four Large Swine Herds in China

“…A similar method was used in the eradication of PRV. In the PRV eradication program, reestablishing negative breeding herd status after PRV infection requires repeated sampling and testing 30 days after the initial test [12]. The underlying mechanism was similar, but the time interval between paired sampling & testing in our practice stems precisely from the latent period of ASFV strain Georgia 2007, the prevalent strain in China [13].…”

Surveillance on swine farms using antemortem specimens

“…First described in 1895 (Kruskal and Mosteller, 1980), statistical sampling was rarely used in livestock surveillance until a synopsis by Cannon and Roe (1982) made the concepts accessible and understandable to field veterinarians. Subsequently, surveillance sample sizes based on binomial sampling distributions were routinely designed into swine disease control programs, for example, the U.S. pseudorabies (Aujeszky's disease) eradication program (Anderson et al, 2008), and became an integral part of the thought processes of swine health specialists.…”

Active Participatory Regional Surveillance for Notifiable Swine Pathogens

“…The need for effective, on-going regional surveillance is obvious, but a workable design is not [12]. Surveillance based on "down-the-road" testing to prove farms free from infection is often performed in government-supported eradication programs, e.g., Aujeszky's disease [13], but is costly and administratively burdensome. Syndromic surveillance [14], i.e., detection based on reports of clinical signs consistent with the pathogen(s) of interest, should meet the need, but Poppensiek and Budd, cited in [15], found that "The greatest single difficulty in a disease-reporting program proved to be the failure of vets to file reports".…”