Accounting for more than 70% of reproductive failures linked to an infectious agent, porcine parvovirus (PPV), porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) and porcine circovirus Type 2 (PCV2) significantly impact reproductive success in dams, according to a recent Boehringer Ingelheim release.
To help protect breeding herds and encourage healthy litters, Boehringer Ingelheim introduces ReproCyc ParvoFLEX for healthy sows and gilts 6 months of age or older to protect against reproductive failure caused by PPV.
PPV is a highly infectious, endemic virus that replicates throughout the body, specifically within lymphoid tissues, salivary glands, lungs, bone marrow and intestinal cells. Intestinal infections often lead to environmental contamination. Farrowing rooms tend to have the largest concentrations of PPV, resulting in infected embryonic and fetal tissues. Pregnant sow infections might cause fetal death and resorption, presentation of mummified fetuses at farrowing and irregular return to estrus.
“PPV is no stranger to producers, but it’s not always top-of-mind for them. When breeding herds are infected, it can cost producers unrealized potential, so our main goal in developing ReproCyc ParvoFLEX is to help prevent those losses with a safe, flexible tool,” says Dr. John Waddell, Director, Key Account Veterinarians, Swine at Boehringer Ingelheim.
In testing the effectiveness in gilts, the press release states: “96% of fetuses from vaccinated gilts were in normal condition compared to only 38% of fetuses from non-vaccinated gilts (the difference was statistically significant). All of the non-vaccinated gilts (10) were PCR-positive for PPV on day 88 of the study (day 46 of gestation and seven days following challenge), while all vaccinated gilts (22) remained PCR-negative for PPV throughout the entire duration of the 127-day study. In addition, a primary outcome parameter for the study was evidence of PPV in fetuses as determined by PCR testing of fetal thoracic fluid. The mean number of affected fetuses in each litter was 1.41 among the vaccinated group, compared to 11.30 in the non-vaccinated group.”
Of 771 sows and gilts vaccinated in the study, 676 (87%) were observed as healthy and experienced no adverse events. Based on the encouraging results, Boehringer Ingelheim suggests mass vaccination in breeding herds, as the vaccine is safe to be administered at any stage of gestation.
The ReproCyc ParvoFLEX vaccine is created using an adjuvanted baculovirus vector platform, the recent PPV strain 27a and the ImpranFLEX adjuvant, which the company says helps to improve immune response.
