Pseudorabies, a disease that primarily impacts swine, is again considered eradicated in Iowa, after the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship confirmed a spring outbreak did not spread to other farms.

The virus was detected April 30 in a small Iowa herd that was later depopulated, per U.S. Department of Agriculture protocol. According to a Monday news release from IDALS, a second round of testing revealed no additional cases of the virus.

Image

IDALS said farms that were quarantined since the detection are now released and may resume routine animal movements.

Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig said in a statement the situation has been “resolved” and the state was able to “contain and eradicate” the pseudorabies virus from the state.

The five infected boars were traced back to a facility in Texas, where USDA also detected the virus. According to USDA the detection was the first case of pseudorabies in a commercial swine herd since 2004.

While the disease has been eradicated from commercial herds, it is still present in feral hogs. IDALS said the impacted Texas herd was housed outside and had the potential for contact with infected feral hogs.

“This situation is a great reminder that we must always be prepared to respond to animal health threats and can never get complacent in our efforts to keep these diseases out of our herds,” Naig said in a news release.

The pseudorabies virus does not pose a threat to humans as they are considered resistant to infections of the virus.