Abstract: Economic impact of productivity losses attributable to porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus in United States pork production, 2016-2020
The porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) continues to pose a major economic burden on the swine industry in the United States (US). This study estimates the annual cost of PRRSV-related productivity losses using US data from 2016 to 2020. Productivity data were collected from commercial swine herds with known PRRSV, porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV), and Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae statuses. The cost of PRRSV was estimated separately for breeding and growing herds. Data from 12 swine companies were used to estimate the cost of PRRSV in the breeding herds; PRRSV statuses were assigned to the breeding herd weeks based on the American Association of Swine Veterinarians (AASV) herd classification and outbreak history as follows: Breeding Herd (BH)-A if PRRSV-negative or provisionally negative, BH-B if PRRSV-positive stable, BH-C if PRRSV-positive unstable after 16-weeks post-outbreak, BH-D if within 16 weeks post-outbreak in PRRSV-affected herds, and BH-E if within 16 weeks post-outbreak in PRRSV-unaffected herds. Data from nine swine companies were used to estimate the cost of PRRSV in the growing herds, and statuses were assigned to growing groups as follows: Growing Herd (GH)-A if PRRSV-negative from weaning to market, GH-B if they were PRRSV-negative at weaning but became PRRSV-positive by market, and GH-C if they were weaned PRRSV-positive. Data on the distribution of US breeding herds by PRRSV status were sourced from the Morrison Swine Health Monitoring Program (MSHMP) database. Swine production-associated prices and costs were sourced from the USDA and InterPIG. An enterprise budgeting model was used to estimate the economic losses from reduced productivity caused by PRRSV. PRRSV caused annual losses of 380.82 million USD in the breeding phase and 819.41 million USD in the growing phase, 1.2 billion USD in total which is a significant increase from the 663.91 million USD reported in 2013. The updated estimates highlight the continuous and growing burden of PRRSV on US swine production.
Osemeke O, Silva GS, Corzo CA, Kikuti M, Vadnais S, Yue X, Linhares D, Holtkamp D. Economic impact of productivity losses attributable to porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus in United States pork production, 2016-2020. Prev Vet Med. 2025 Jul 18;244:106627. doi: 10.1016/j.prevetmed.2025.106627. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 40712375.
