Mitigating the impacts of the Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome Virus (PRRSV) requires rapid detection and a coordinated diagnostic infrastructure. Through a grant from the USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture, scientists at Iowa State University, South Dakota State University, University of Minnesota, Kansas State University, Ohio Animal Disease and Diagnostic Laboratory, and Purdue University are leveraging the Swine Disease Reporting System (SDRS) to detect new strains of PRRSV rapidly.

The resulting web-based Basic Local Alignment Search Tool (BLAST) allows veterinarians, producers and other users to compare genetic sequences of PRRSV with those in the Swine Disease Reporting System(SRDS). The system collects, collates and monitors diagnostic data of nine infectious agents in U.S. swine herds while keeping farm, producer, production system, veterinarian and participant laboratory confidential.

At the end of February 2024, the just-released BLAST detected an L1C.5 PRRSV in South Carolina for the first time.

Discover more about the new PRRSV diagnostic tool here.