Boehringer Ingelheim: Winners of the 2020 European PRRS Research Award announced

Boehringer Ingelheim honors three winning research proposals with a funding of 25,000 euro each as part of the European PRRS Awards to encourage further development of practical methods for controlling PRRS (Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome), and to recognize scientific excellence in this field. Furthermore, the company offers a valuable opportunity for interaction and academic exchange among swine researchers and veterinary practitioners. The winners were selected by an independent expert panel.

PRRS continues to be a highly prevalent disease¹ in European pigs, causing economic losses² through its negative effects on reproduction and growth as well as by clinical illness.

The European PRRS Research Award review board is chaired by Enric Mateu (Universidad Autònoma de Barcelona) with members from across swine practice and academia: Helle Jessen (Danvet), Andrea Ladinig (Vetmeduni Vienna), Giovanbattista Danilo Guadagnini (Gruppo Veronesi), Gyula Balka (Veterinary Medicine Budapest) ), Michele Drigo (University of Padova), and Torsten Pabst (Tierarztpraxis Dr. Pabst).

In 2020, the company has sponsored the annual European PRRS Research Award for the seventh time already. The winners of this year’s European PRRS Research Award, as selected by the review board after careful evaluation, are:

• Biosecurity and management impact on PRRS status and economical profit: statistical process control after evaluation and improvement (Ramis Vidal, Universidad de Murcia – Spain)
• PRRSV1 genetic recombination in swine herds: an emerging risk or hype (Erhard van d. Vries, Royal GD – The Netherlands)
• Impact of weaning procedures on PRRSV in the nursery (Pia R. Heiselberg, HyoVet – Denmark)

The prizes will be awarded to the winners at the fifth European PRRSpective taking place in Bern, Switzerland, in 2021.

References
¹https://www.prrs.com/en/publications/abstracts/prrs-prevalence-europe-perception-the-pig-veterinary-practitioners/

²https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28606362