Air Filtration

Solution

Air Filtration

Solution

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Why should consider Air Filtration?

PRRS:
A COSTLY DISEASE

Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS) causes major economic losses each year. This disease is the most costly in the North-American pork industry. In Canada, losses reach approximately $150 million per year (FVM, 2007). A single Canadian hog producer can incur losses between $250 and $460 per sow per year if a herd is infected by chronic PRRS or affected by a new acute infection (Mussel, 2010).

AIRBORNE TRANSMISSION
OF PATHOGENS

The possibility of airborne PRRS virus transmission has been the subject of controversy for many years (Cho and Dee, 2006). However, it has now been confirmed that many pathogens that cause significant economic loss, including PRRS virus, influenza and Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae, can be a result of airborne transmission from one production site to another (Desrosiers, 2004) carried by dust particles or other bioaerosols. Studies have shown that the PRRS virus and Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae can be transmitted by air over distances of up to 9.1 km (Dee et al., 2009a; Otake et al., 2010).

BIOSECURITY AND FILTRATION:
EFFICIENT SYNERGY

A number of studies have shown that different types of filters can reduce airborne transmission within a herd; viruses such as PRRS virus, however, are not limited to airborne transmission. A reliable biosecurity program used in conjunction with an air filtration system is critical to reduce the contamination risk. In a study by Pitkin et al. (2008) comparing three levels of biosecurity, the contamination level in an operation with no biosecurity measures was 66%, and dropped to 30% in a building with biosecurity measures. By comparison, over the study’s same two-year period, a barn with a filtration system and a biosecurity program experienced no herd issues with PRRS. Moreover, it seems that in high-density swine areas, PRRS outbreaks cannot be prevented by conventional biosecurity protocols alone.