Peoria seminar addresses pseudorabies problem BY DR. LARRY HUTCHINSON Extension Veterinarian The Pennsylvania State University UNIVERSITY PARK - Pork industry leaders met in Peoria, H on Jan. 20 and 21 to discuss the future of pseudorabies control and the prospects for eradication. About 200 people attended the National Pork Producers Council sponsored seminar and they represented a broad cross-section of pork producers, researchers, regulatory and extension per sonnel, practicing veterinarians and allied agribusiness groups. Out of this meeting will emerge recommendations for future strategy toward this disease. Pseudorabies is a virus disease of pigs as well as other mammals that has been of major concern to the pork industry in the past decade. Pseudorabies does not, however, affect humans. While pseudorabies (PR) is widespread in the Midwest, the infection has been diagnosed in only a small area of southwestern Penn sylvania. A national slaughter survey conducted in 1984 revealed that 8.5 percent of market hogs carry antibodies agains PR, a sign that they have been exposed to the disease or to PR vaccine. Participants at the Peoria symposium discussed the changing nature of the clinical disease. Explosive outbreaks of abortions, stillbirths and baby pig losses are uncommon today but can occur with exposure of a highly susceptible herd to a large dose of virus. Most PR herd episodes are clinically inapparent, although reproductive efficiency and feed efficiency may be affected. Pneumonia in feeder-age pigs is increasingly being recognized as one form of PR. GOOD QUALITY