Testimonial of Swine Health Professionals

Pike Pig Systems
113 E. Washington Street
Pittsfield, IL 62363
(217) 285-4636

February 2, 2010

In the fall of 2008 we started working with a 4-5 year old 6400-sow farm that had a history of at least two previous PRRS virus outbreaks. Each break followed up with treatment with PRRS serum therapy of both the sow herd and attached GDU. The farm was in the process of trying to eradicate the virus through redesigned animal and personnel flows as well as stricter bio-security procedures. However, after a period of time with poor quality pigs, short pig placements, disgruntled owners, disgruntled workers, and higher costs, the frustration level was at an all time high. At this time ownership changed their focus from PRRS eradication to improved numbers of good quality pigs regardless of the PRRS status of the pigs or the sow herd. Scrapping the PRRS eradication program led us to explore other PRRS management strategies.

The farm structure is a 6400 sow breed-wean farm with 2 gestation barns and common farrowing rooms. There are 2 isolation nurseries capable of handling 360 gilts which are delivered (PRRS naïve) to the farm every four weeks at 3-4 weeks of age. After an 8 week stay, the gilts are moved into the gilt grow finish facility that is attached to the sow farm. Once gilts reach 28 weeks of age and have received proper vaccination and acclimation, they are then moved into the breeding/gestation barns. Once the PRRS eradication procedures had been eliminated, the daily foot traffic and chores returned to a more normal farm routine. We also began using a new sub-unit PRRS vaccine as a 2-dose vaccination prior to replacement gilts being introduced into the breeding herd. The new PRRS sub-unit vaccine was the same product that had been given to all sows in weeks 44 and 48 of 2008. Prior to the use of the PRRS sub-unit vaccine, the herd performance was at a 10.85% live born, 4.7% still born rate, 1.9% mummy rate, 17% pre-weaning mortality and 8.7 pigs per sow weaning average.

With these changes we had targeted producing 2700 pigs per week rather than the 1900 to 2100 pigs per week we had produced over the previous nine months. Approximately 12 weeks after beginning the new vaccination program (week 4 of 2009), we started seeing an increase in the pre-weaning mortality, stillborn and mummy rate, and experienced 37 late term abortions. Keeping in mind that all these animals had already received two doses of the new sub-unit PRRS vaccine, we pulled blood out of symptomatic sows in gestation, pigs in farrowing and gilts getting ready to leave the isolation nursery (delivered naïve and sero-converted naturally) after their 8-week stay. We found all three sampled areas yielded 100 percent PRRS PCR positive results. Immediate virus sequencing was done. Samples from all 3 areas of the farm yielded the same PRRS virus. The decision then was made to come back and booster the entire population with another dose of the same, new sub-unit PRRS vaccine on week 8 of 2009.

During that time, we had planned on investigating other possibilities in regard to PRRS management control. We also started testing pigs coming out of the farrowing house 4 weeks after the sow booster of the new sub-unit PRRS vaccine was given. We found pigs to be PRRS positive coming out of farrowing every week that we tested between weeks 13 and 17, 2009. Considering that it had been 6 weeks since the booster of the new sub-unit vaccine had been given, we concluded that it was time to look at our next option. During our testing we had heard about MJ Biologics, and submitted the 3 strains of PRRS virus sequences for evaluation and characterization of viruses based on MJPRRS™ grouping technology to make sure that the virus groups of those isolated would be included in the vaccine that we used. Once we got the vaccine, we used it on the entire sow herd and all the way through isolation (10,000 doses+/-).

When the MJPRRS™ vaccine was put into the herd we were operating at a 5.5% stillborn rate and 18% mummy rate over the previous 10 weeks. The new sub-unit vaccine that we had used appeared to stop late stage abortions, but did not seem to have an effect on stillborn or mummy rates. The vaccine also appeared to have no affect on limiting PCR status for PRRS virus in pigs at weaning time. The booster (2nd vaccination) of the MJPRRS™ was given to all sows in the herd on weeks 22 of 2009. Once again all groups being weaned had samples taken from the poorest pigs in the group to do PCR analysis for PRRS virus beginning with week 18 and continuing through week 25.

The summary of information based on records and laboratory analysis appears to be very significant. By the 4th week after the first dose of MJPRRS™vaccine, mummy rates had dropped from 19% down to 6.3% and continued to inch its way down to the present level of 1.6%. The stillborn rate also decreased from 5.5% down to 4.5%. Pigs remained PCR positive for PRRS until the 6th week (week 24 of 2009) after the initial vaccination or 2 weeks after the booster. The farm has continued the vaccination program by giving a whole herd booster of the MJPRRS™ vaccine every 13 weeks. Pigs coming out of the farrowing house remain PCR negative for PRRS from week 24 of 2009 to the present time.

At this point, the MJPRRS approach has resulted in a significant increase in pigs produced each week (2750-2850) as well as a major improvement in pig quality. Owners claimed that a year earlier the pigs they received averaged 70% good, 20% questionable but start-able and 10% of no value. The same owners today rate them 95% excellent pigs, 3% good pigs and 2% off pigs. Performance of the pigs in nurseries and finishers has been exceptional. Due to these results on this farm as well as others where MJPRRS™ was used, we plan to continue to use this product as our first option.

Patrick L. Graham M.S., D.V.M.
John McIntire, General Manager
David Bishop, Phd

Testimonial of a Veterinarian

February, 2010

I am writing to give you my experiences with the use of the autogenous MJPRRS™ vaccine. I got involved early in the development phase of the technology, but the actual use of the vaccine started in July 2008. I started and have continued the use of vaccines in over 75,000 sows to control Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome (PRRS).

The disease has cost the swine industry hundreds of millions if not billions of dollars in the last 20 years. We have tried and experimented with many solutions including live serum exposure. During that time we failed to find a suitable answer. The use of this vaccine has now given us a potential reprieve for this devastating disease.

I have so far seen results that far exceeded my expectations for the control of PRRS. We have been able to use the vaccine in the face of PRRS disease challenges and saw dramatic results. In specific cases it has been able to prevent the reproductive losses and piglet deaths normally associated with a PRRS break.

A normal goal after a PRRS break is to create piglets that are being born free of the virus. This usually takes 10 to 16 weeks but after the use of MJPRRS™ vaccine we were able to see it after only 6 weeks.

We have never been able to use a product that has shut down the disease like this before. It has given us totally unexpected results from any procedure or product that we had available to fight this disease in the past.

The technology within the production phase of this vaccine is revolutionary to the swine industry. It will be invaluable in helping us protect the health and well being of the animals under our care and the livelihoods of many hog producers.
The swine industry will be greatly benefitted by the production of this technology as move forward in the 21st century.
I would not look forward to continuing in the next few years without the use of this unique and extraordinary product.

Mark FitzSimmons, DVM
2006 Swine Practitioner-of-the-Year
MAF Veterinary Services
503 Silver Street
Mapleton, MN 56065
(507) 995-6606

Testimonial of a Swine Health Professional

March, 2010

Sow Farm 1

We began using MJPRRS™ vaccine on a 3,700 head sow farm that had broken with a 1-?-2 family of PRRS virus (D4). The farm broke in October 2007 and continued to produce PRRS PCR positive weaned pigs through March of 2008 with 15 – 20% wean to finish mortality, despite live virus inoculation and herd closure. At the sow farm in March abortions began to increase and reached a point of 120 – 130 per week before the initial MJPRRS™ vaccination was delivered. Week one following MJPRRS™ vaccination only 80 additional abortions had occurred. The second week after vaccination saw 40 abortions. The third week saw 15 abortions and the following weeks returned to 2 – 4 abortions. The farm has completed their booster vaccinations and is now using a prefarrowing vaccination program with 1 – 2.5% nursery and 2 – 3% finishing mortality.

Sow Farm 2

We started an MJPRRS™ vaccination program in a 7,200 farrow to wean system. The herd had seen a 1-?-2 PRRS (S1) virus in January of 2008 and 15 – 16 weeks following live virus inoculation was producing largely PRRS PCR negative piglets. In late October piglet mortality began to increase and overall piglet quality became poorer on a week by week basis. The herd has completed an MJPRRS™ boostering series and started a prefarrow vaccination program. During the 4 to 5 months of whole herd vaccinations, the weekly piglet testing has gone from 100% of the pooled samples being PCR positive to 1 in 30 to 1 in 60 samples positive to PRRS by PCR.

In either sow farm a de-pop/re-pop was quickly approaching and may not have been economically feasible due to losses to that point in time and the poor market conditions in late 2008 – early 2009. If not for MJPRRS™ vaccine it is likely that both of these farms would not be producing pigs.

Finishing

Several clients were receiving groups of sporadically PRRS PCR positive piglets from a sow farm in Canada. Most groups of pigs arrived at the nursery in very good health, but in short order (2 – 3 weeks) began showing signs of ill-thrift and mild respiratory disease. Mortality, normally 1 – 2% through the nursery had jumped to 5 – 6% with an additional 3 – 5% of pigs deteriorating shortly following the transition to the finisher. To make matters worse, as the sow farm started their herd closure and elimination of PRRS, there was not much relief as the nursery and finishing animals were housed on the same site.

We vaccinated one group with MJPRRS™ in an attempt to salvage as many pigs as possible, not knowing entirely what to expect. To our surprise, the animals from that point forward responded favorably and transitioned to the finisher almost seamlessly. When the next group arrived, we waited approximately one week post-entry and vaccinated the new animals. This group performed well through the nursery and transitioned to the finisher as if they had not seen any virus despite becoming PRRS PCR positive. Since we began this in the spring of 2009, this system has vaccinated nearly 15,000 nursery piglets and cut mortality by more than 3% in each group.

Keith Kinsley, DVM
Swine Health Center
Farwell, Minnesota

Testimonial of a Veterinarian

"In my hands, the PRRS products and technical advice from MJ Biologics have been valuable in a balanced approach to controlling the PRRS virus. MJ’s new grouping system for virus strains has proven itself to be a very useful tool in understanding what is happening in the field in regard to the PRRS virus mutating intra farm and moving from farm to farm.

MJ Biologics’ inactivated PRRS vaccine in combination with biosecurity protocols, pig flow restrictions, sanitation have helped me to stabilize active PRRS sow farms as well as keep stabilized farms quiet.

Sow Farm XX is a 2500 sow farrow-to-wean unit located in a hog dense area of southern Minnesota. This farm has used MJPRRS™ vaccine for three years very successfully. The young replacement gilts are given live exposure to sero convert them, then given 2 shots of MJPRRS™ prior to entering the breeding herd. The sow herd is blanket vaccinated 3-4 times a year. Prior to MJPRRS™, this unit periodically “leaked” PRRS virus to the nursery with subsequent spikes in mortality and morbidity. After the introduction to MJPRRS™, the unit has not “leaked” virus in the nursery.

During the winter of 2007/2008, the area surrounding this unit experienced widespread clinical problems with the 1-?-2 family of PRRS virus. To date, this unit has remained stable and quiet of clinical signs. For the last quarter of 2007, the farm weaned 25.5 pigs/sow/year and for the first quarter of 2008, they weaned 25.1 pigs/sow/year."

Brian D. Roggow, DVM
Fairmont Veterinary Clinic, LLP

Testimonial of a Veterinarian

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

Testimonial of a Producer

"We have been using MJPRRS™ in our 800 head sow herd since April, 2006. Since that time, we have been giving quarterly shots to our sow herd and two shots to all incoming gilts before entering the breeding barn. There has been no negative effect on the sow herd by vaccinating with the product. Since we have been using MJPRRS™, we have been producing the highest quality PCR negative weaner pigs ever in the last 15 years. The vaccine has been working effectively and is very cost-effective.

Our herd was challenged in January, 2008 by the new strain circulating in the upper Midwest and the vaccine worked wonderfully with our farm suffering only a handful of abortions. The neighboring farms not on MJPRRS™ suffered a huge percentage of abortions and high sow mortality. Our production has risen from 20 pigs per sow per year (PSY) to the current level of 26 PSY since we have been using MJPRRS™."

Glenn Sohre, Producer
Good Thunder, Minnesota

Testimonial of a Veterinarian (from 2006)

"In the past, cross-protection between different strains of PRRS has been sporadic and unpredictable. Protection when re-exposed to the same homogeneous virus is more predictable.

I did a series of trials involving pregnant sows, and the results demonstrated partial to full protection when challenged with a wild type PRRS virus. These sows had a history of prior field PRRS virus exposure and multiple doses of killed MJPRRS™ vaccine. The challenge PRRS viruses were at least 8% different from what the sows were exposed to previously. Additionally, each challenge virus used had previously been associated with severe clinical disease in non-related herds.

Preliminary data is positive regarding this new MJPRRS™ vaccine. Additional trials are planned to confirm these findings. For a more complete summary of these trial results, refer to poster/abstract entitled “Protection against heterologous PRRSV challenge in pregnant sows immunized with multivalent PRRS vaccine 1.”

Mark Wagner, D.V.M.
Fairmont Vet Clinic
Fairmont, Minnesota

1. Wagner M., et al. Protection against heterologous PRRSV challenge in pregnant sows immunized with multivalent PRRSV vaccines. In: International PRRS Symposium, 2005 Dec. 2-3; St. Louis, MO.