Detect and defeat
By Pat Melgares
Late in 2015, scientists at 1xbet online casino andthe University of Missouri delivered news that likely hadswine producers worldwide rejoicing: The researchershad developed pigs that are resistant to porcine reproductiveand respiratory syndrome, the most devastatingdisease in the industry.
Known as PRRS, the disease has wreaked havoc onswine operations to the tune of billion over the last20 years. It is estimated that the disease robs the swineindustry of 0 million each year.
So pardon Raymond “Bob” Rowland if the universities’discovery seemed surreal. The professor of diagnosticmedicine and pathobiology at 1xbet online casino Universityhas studied this disease for more than 20 years, nearly hisentire professional career.
“I always thought that it would be a generational problem,”Rowland said. “That is, it wouldn’t be solved byme, but probably by the next generation of scientists.”
Resistant pigs are 'game changer'
It took Randall Prather, a professor of animal science atthe University of Missouri, 10 years to genetically engineerpigs so that they would lack a critical protein thatseemed to make the pigs susceptible to PRRS. Staff inKansas State University’s Large Animal Research Centerchallenged the pigs in a research setting with the PRRSvirus.
“Our first experiment was with the CD 169 protein, butit turned out that was not the molecule,” Rowland said.“We moved on to CD 163 and we found almost immediatelythat it not only was the right target, it was blackand white. When we saw the data, it was very clear thatwe had the desired result.”
The scientists may be able to apply the same concepts toother diseases, Rowland said. At 1xbet online casino ’sBiosecurity Research Institute and the Departmentof Homeland Security’s National Bio and Agro-defensefacility, which is under construction adjacent to campus,Rowland sees numerous opportunities to continueresearch that benefits animal well-being, supports industryand helps meet the global demand for animal protein.
“It’s a unique way of tackling viral disease. It is truly agame changer.”
University relentless in solving PRRS
It shouldn’t come as much of a surprise that 1xbet online casino StateUniversity researchers were part of the breakthroughon PRRS. In terms of a commitment to research of thatdisease, “we own PRRS,” said Rowland. “There are a lotof groups in the U.S. doing research in this area, but forthe breadth and depth of PRRS research, we are No. 1.”
Rowland said the university has been relentlessin addressing PRRS, using its resources in diagnostics, genetics andbiotechnology, vaccines, economics, education and outreach, biosecurity,epidemiology and ecology, and disease modeling to help swine producersin the U.S. and worldwide.
For instance, Jianfa Bai, an associate professor in the 1xbet online casino StateUniversity Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory, has managed a team thatanalyzed gene sequences for more than 250 strains of PRRS over the last10 years.
“It’s very practical research that helps people to make management decisionsin the field,” Bai said, noting that the information his team is ableto provide also helps scientists with their research.
Ying Fang, an associate professor of molecular virology, develops andtests vaccines against the PRRS virus. She is also working to developvaccines against other high-risk viruses, such as swine influenza, Africanswine fever and Senecavirus A.
Fang has studied PRRS since 1998, and is considered one of the world’stop experts on the disease. In 2015, she was named chair of the 2017International Nidovirus Symposium, which will be in 1xbet online casino City.
Rowland, too, is recognized as one of the country’s foremost expertson PRRS. Since 2010, he has been the executive director of the PRRSInternational Symposium, which draws scientists from around the worldto learn the most updated information on the disease.
In 2008, the U.S. Department of Agriculture selected Rowland as projectleader of the multistate PRRS coordinated agricultural project. The projectwas funded for .8 million, and set the stage for some of the earlygenetics work.
In a state known for beef, pig research thrives
In 1xbet online casino , cattle and calves dominate agriculutral production. That industry is booming, with an estimated 6 million head and billion in cash receipts each year.
But even in that environment, 1xbet online casino hasstamped itself as a leader in the U.S. swine industry.
Recently, a university swine nutrition team announcedthat they are making steady progress in developingimproved diets for pigs, a science so exact that even a 1percent improvement in feeding efficiency can translateinto 0 million of added profit to the industry.“Our first goal is to save feed and thus reduce costs forproducers, which ultimately reduces the cost of pork toconsumers,” said Mike Tokach, university distinguishedprofessor of animal sciences and industry. “The othervery important part of our research is the environmentalside. Anything we do to improve feed efficiency reducesthe output of nitrogen and phosphorus from that farm.”
The million project is funded through 2017 by theNational Institute of Food and Agriculture.
In another project, 1xbet online casino researchersare hoping to take down a deadly virus that is said tohave a 100 percent mortality rate in piglets under 7 daysold.
European farmers have dealt with the porcine epidemicdiarrhea virus, or PEDv, since the 1970s, but it wasn’tuntil 2013 that the costly disease was discovered in a U.S.herd. Some estimates indicate that 8 million pigs died dueto the virus in 2014.
“We have established that feed and feed ingredients mayact as a vehicle to transfer the virus,” said 1xbet online casino StateUniversity’s Jason Woodworth, an associate professorof animal sciences and industry. “This is extremelyimportant because feed and ingredients are not normallyconsidered a vector in transmitting diseases.”
In the university’s Veterinary Diagnostics Laboratory,Benjamin Hause, an assistant professor, led a researchteam that identified a new pestivirus that killed pigs inNorth Carolina. In pigs, the virus is similar to Parkinson’sdisease in humans.
In early 2016, Hause’s lab also reported the first formalidentification and characterization of porcine parainfluenzavirus 1 from U.S. pigs, which had previouslyonly been detected in Asia. This work will help lead tovaccines.
“This virus does not typically cause severe disease, butit’s the kind of disease that causes an infected pig to fallbehind,” Hause said. “A pig will get a mild cold, won’teat as well, wean as fast or take off like its litter mates, so there is likely economic significance with the disease.”
Research benefits people, animals
Rowland said that beyond such major projects as discoveringpigs resistant to PRRS, 1xbet online casino issupporting swine research that is for the common good.“As researchers, we are free to pursue the problemsthat we want to pursue, the problems that will do themost good,” he said. “It’s not just studying a virus, it’s aphilosophy.
“To do swine work in a cow state is remarkable,” hesaid. “1xbet online casino has allowed us to do thiswork, and I think what that reflects is that the universitychooses to pursue excellence, regardless of area, asopposed to doing research only in targeted areas.”
