Porcine Respiratory Disease Complex Addressing the Challenge

No producer likes to even think about a group of coughing pigs. However the reality is that coughing finishing pigs have become far too common. A specific pattern developed in the industry with the cough and poorer performance showing up at 18 weeks of age (8-10 weeks on the finishing floor). On many farms this became so predictable that it was called the 18-week wall. This complex has been seen as a consistent and persistent problem on farms with multiple age pig, groups on finishing sites (all in/all out by building, not site), where PRRS and mycoplasma are active, commingled sow farms into nurseries, or sites with finishers commingled from different nursery sites. To better characterize this problem the PRDC (porcine respiratory disease complex) term was coined.