Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome, also known as PRRS, has cost the U.S. pork industry an estimated $1.2 billion per year in lost production from 2016 to 2020, according to a new analysis from Iowa State University. The economic damage from the viral disease has increased 80%, or $536 million, from a decade earlier. A 2012 study estimated the virus caused $664 million in annual losses from 2006 to 2010. PRRS has been present in U.S. swine herds since the mid-1980s and remains a growing threat, said Derald Holtkamp, Iowa State University professor of veterinary diagnostic and production animal medicine. “After 40 years of experience fighting this virus, veterinarians and producers are still losing the battle against PRRS,” said Holtkamp, who led the new research and the 2012 study.
