By SHELLY SPRINGBORN
Michigan Correspondent

LANSING, Mich. — Michigan agriculture officials last week banned the import of hogs from Wisconsin due to an outbreak of the pseudorabies virus there.

On April 18, state agriculture officials in Wisconsin confirmed the virus was found on a Clark County farm. The herd consists of about 300 swine – piglets, young hogs, sows, gilts and boars – which will be destroyed because of the virus outbreak.

“We need to have that work done by May 1,” said Wisconsin State Veterinarian Dr. Robert Ehlenfeldt. “We’ll work with the producer to develop a plan to dispose of the herd.”

Most of the hogs will be allowed to go to slaughter for use as food because the meat is safe to eat. Animals that are too young or otherwise unsuitable for food use will be euthanized.

The USDA gives states 15 days from confirmation to depopulate the infected herd and test all swine herds within five miles of the infected herd in order to retain their pseudorabies free status.
Michigan officials moved quickly on April 19 to close its borders to ensure the safety of the state’s hog industry, which gained pseudorabies free status in 2000, along with Wisconsin.

“We are taking swift, aggressive action to safeguard the health and viability of Michigan’s pork industry,” said Michigan Department of Agriculture Director Mitch Irwin. “The ability of this disease to spread to hogs and other animals poses an imminent danger to the swine industry demanding an immediate response.”
Joe Marhofer, who owns and operates a contract hog nursery near Belding, Mich., said the prompt action of Michigan officials to ban Wisconsin swine from entering the state was necessary.

“It took a long time to get Michigan to its pseudorabies-free status,” he said. “At the time we were working on this, we considered trying to get a split-state status on pseudorabies like the cattle producers have done with bovine tuberculosis. But, we decided if we did, we would never conquer it. We wanted this thing eradicated.

“There’s not a person in this state who has raised hogs that ever wants to go back to being a pseudorabies state. This disease has got to be controlled,” he said.

Marhofer handles about 52,000 pigs each year, raising them from 15 days old to 45 days old in his nursery.  Prior to becoming a contract hog nursery in 1998, he owned and operated a farrow-to-finish hog operation.

“I knew guys who had pseudorabies,” he said. “I never had it and I didn’t want it. It’s an expensive and time-consuming disease to get rid of.”

Marhofer said its important for people to be careful when they’re buying pigs – whether they’re a large grower or someone who keeps a couple in the backyard for personal use.

“We don’t want this disease reintroduced back into Michigan,” he said.

Pseudorabies is caused by the herpes virus. Newborn pigs may suffer symptoms ranging from appetite loss to seizures, and entire litters can die. Older hogs may show flu-like symptoms and reproductive problems including abortions or stillbirths.

It sometimes can cause rabies-like symptoms, although it is not related to rabies. Pseudorabies can be passed to cattle, sheep, goats, cats and other species, but it always causes sudden death in those species and those animals do not pass along the virus. The virus is not a health threat to humans.

Besides the disease threat, pseudorabies poses an economic threat to producers. If either state lost its pseudorabies-free status, hogs would have to be tested for the disease before being shipped out of state.

Michigan has about 960,000 hogs. The state’s pork industry in 2005 generated $230 million.

In 2005, Wisconsin’s pork production was worth $120 million with a total swine herd of about 430,000 animals.