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According to "GB Emerging Threats Quarterly Report", the diagnostic rate for PRRS in GB in the first quarter of 2018 was the highest recorded quarterly diagnostic rate (16.6 %) with the previous highest being in Q4 2016 (12.7 %).
The seasonality pattern with a peak in diagnoses in winter months and dip in summer months is familiar.
The rise may well reflect better survival and transmission of the virus in cooler, darker and less dry weather conditions, as well as colder wetter weather making effective cleaning and disinfection harder to achieve.
The majority of diagnoses were made in submissions from pigs in England.
The increasing diversity over time of PRRS virus (PRRSV) strains detected in samples in which PRRS is diagnosed continues as reported previously (APHA, 2016). No PRRSV-2 has been detected to date in GB pigs and the PRRSV-1 strains sequenced to date from 2018 remain within GB clusters, suggesting no new incursions of “foreign” virus strains.
July 2018/ APHA/ United Kingdom.
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