I became aware of MJ Biologics in late 2006. After contacting some veterinarians who were using the MJPRRS® vaccine, I decided to try it on my own. In my practice, I work with mostly independent producers who are primarily farrow to finish systems and nearly all dealing with the effects of PRRS.

I had used conventional killed autogenous vaccines with only marginal success and little cross protection. I was frustrated by the unpredictable results of LVI and did not want to use modified live vaccines. The MJ Biologics technology is unique because it provides a mechanism to analyze different viruses to select immunologically different virus strains to broaden the protection in the MJPRRS® vaccine.

In 2007, I used this product in 10 farms that had a history of repeated clinical PRRS outbreaks in the past. I began using the vaccine to blanket the sow herd periodically. We were able to provent prental losses, stabilize the sow herd and protect them from outbreaks from new or mutated virus challenges. The number of farms using the vaccine has continued to grow and during the last 3 years the vaccine has been applied in many different situations to stabilize herds, get back to producing PCR negative pigs more quickly, and reduce levels viremia.

In 2009 with more product availability we started to use the vaccine in piglets. We are very pleased with the unexpected results that we experienced. In the 20-year history of the PRRS disease I have never witnessed a product that would accomplish what MJPRRS® would do in stopping death loss and clearing the virus in such a short period of time.
The clinical picture was dramatically and rapidly improved after vaccination even though some PCR tests remained positive. The Virus Quantitation revealed that vaccinates has 100 to 1000 fold LESS virus in their serum compared to non-vaccinates.

In conjunction with other good production practices, this technology provides the means to produce a multi-strain vaccine with a high antigen content that can reduce the clinical and economic impact of PRRS in a swine herd. My confidence in this technology allows me to continue to apply this product in situations where producers have been dealing with costly effects of PRRS.

Paul J. Armbrecht, DVM
Lake City Veterinary Service
Lake City, Iowa