Contaminated needles might spread PRRS
Contaminated needles might spread PRRS
USE of needles contaminated with porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus can act as a carrier of the virus to other pigs, suggests American research.
The study, reported in the Vet Record, highlights how PRRS may be transmitted on commercial farms where pigs receive numerous injections of vaccines and antibiotics. "Producers rarely change needles between individual pigs due to cost and labour constraints," say the authors at the University of Minnesota, College of Vet Medicine.
In each replicate of the study, 15 four-week-old PRRS-naïve pigs were split into three groups. The first group of pigs were inoculated with PRRS, so they became infected.
After 5-7 days, these pigs were intramuscularly injected with PRRS vaccine, then this same needle and syringe were used to inject vaccine into the other groups.
All pigs developed PRRS antibodies within 21 days of exposure to the needle used on the experimentally infected pigs. *