AASV rolls out web-based version of PRRS Risk Assessment

Last Updated (Friday, 13 February 2009 20:30) Written by Administrator Monday, 03 November 2008 09:33

The new web-based version of the PRRS Risk Assessment for the Breeding Herd was unveiled in Ames, Iowa to participants in a training session held November 10 following the ISU Swine Disease Conference. To help risk assessment and benchmarking become much more widely utilized, the American Association of Swine Veterinarians (AASV) Production Animal Disease Risk Assessment Program (PADRAP) was initiated in 2006. The web application is a major step forward for the program. The program is committed to helping establish and support a long-term coordinated, cooperative, and collaborative epidemiologically-based initiative to manage disease risks faced by the North American swine industry. AASV and Iowa State University College of Veterinary Medicine, is working with support from the National Pork Board (NPB), Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica, USDA-APHIS and PRRS-CAP (CREES, NC-229) to develop and support PADRAP for the swine industry.

The PRRS Risk Assessment for the Breeding Herd was initially developed by Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica using Microsoft Excel® and Visual Basic for Applications® (VBA). Over 95 AASV member veterinarians were trained on the spreadsheet version. Assessments from the spreadsheet-based risk assessment will continue to be accepted through March 8, 2007. Veterinarians who have been previously trained on the spreadsheet version of the Risk Assessment Tool will need to attend a training session in order to use the web version. Training sessions will be offered online and in conjunction with the 2008 Annual AASV meeting.

Some examples of how veterinarians have applied the PRRS Risk Assessment for the Breeding Herd include:

1) to evaluate current biosecurity protocols and/or to develop new biosecurity protocols to avoid risk,

2) to demonstrate improvement in biosecurity over time to help justify expenditure of resources on measures to improve biosecurity,

3) as an aid in the decision to initiate a project to eliminate PRRSv from a breeding herd site, or to identify modifiable risk factors in an effort to increase the likelihood that an elimination project will be successful long-term,

4) as an aid in the decision to use a breeding herd site to produce genetic animals,

5) to communicate risks and the importance of biosecurity procedures to clients or production personnel and

6) as part of the due diligence process for purchases or contracting agreements.

The web-based application allows trained veterinarians to submit completed assessments for breeding herd sites and immediately view risk benchmarking reports for the sites. Veterinarians can also create and send links to reports to clients or production personnel for viewing or printing. Additional features include the ability to print surveys so that assessments may be completed off line. A time saving feature allows veterinarians to complete multiple assessments simultaneously. This feature is particularly useful when assessing multiple sites within the same production system where the answers to many of the questions may be the same for all breeding herd sites. Another time saving feature allows previously completed assessments to be duplicated and used as the basis for newly completed assessments. This feature is particularly useful when surveys are repeated over time for the same breeding herd site or when surveys are being completed for multiple breeding herd sites that share many of the same operational links, such as boar studs or trucking.

Currently only the PRRS Risk Assessment for the Breeding Herd is available through the web application. However, it is designed to easily accommodate risk assessments for other swine diseases, other stages of production and even other species. Plans are currently being made to develop PRRS risk assessments for growing pigs and boar studs which would also be offered through the web application.

For more information on the web version of the PRRS Risk Assessment for the Breeding Herd, and PADRAP in general, please email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or call the AASV office at 515-465-5255.