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Survey market swine in commercial abattoirs servicing Southeast, Northeast and Midwest production regions for presence of antibodies to Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Sundrome(PRRS), Trichinella spiralis, and Toxoplasma gondii. Use this market data to identify trends in antibody prevalance based on geographic location, approximate herd size and seasonality (PRRS only). Compare results with earlier Midwest survey for PRRS antibodies.
NON-TECHNICAL SUMMARY: The prevalence of PRRS, Trichinae and toxoplasma antibodies in market swine from different regions and herd sizes are not well recognized. By use of the USDA-APHIS-VS market swine personnel to efficiently collect meat samples from production lots supplied to 11 commercial abattoirs that recieved swine from the Southeast, Northeast and Midwest regions a comparative evaluation of prevalence for antibodies to these three(3) organisms could be performed. Sufficent sample size(74,500) strategically selected with five(5) samples per lot to identify within herd and regional, herd size, lot size and frequency of delivery will be collected and analyzed. It is suspected that regional differences for PRRS and Toxoplasma antibodies will be discovered based on regional swine density and herd sizes. This information will be useful in development of control and eradication efforts for these production (PRRS) and food safety (Trichinae and Toxoplasma) organisms.<P>APPROACH: Material and methods: Meat samples will be collected from selected carcasses at 11 cooperating commercial abattoirs at the rate of five(5) samples per lot. Sample identity will be maintained by plant lot number and date of collection. This information will be melded with ownership information supplied by the abattoir daily to identify sample and producer location based on mailing address and lot size. Meat samples will be frozen and shipped to Iowa State University for processing from the solid frozen state to a liquid phase (meat juice). All antibody testing will be performed at the Iowa State University using USDA licensed ELISA test kits. A total of 74,500 samples will be selected over a four(4) month period. A selective sampling algorithm will be practiced by the processing lab to limit the contributions the 25 largest producers to two(2) lots daily. All other producers will be sampled on each presentation to the abattoir. Resulting data will be collated and identified to the producer name, by month of collection, and receiving plant. Producer geographic locations will be determined from the abattoir-supplied producer records. Within herd incidence and for groupings by geographic location, annual herd production, and plant will be evaluated and reported.