Updated - Photo Report: IPVS Congress, Cancún, Mexico

The Mexican Caribbean – once the place for pirates, now the place where the whole world comes to relax and enjoy fantasy pirate ships.

This is where IPVS 2014 has landed – in the Moon Palace Golf & Spa Resort.

The pig at the entrance which also colours up this year’s logo.

Dr Alberto Stephano, president of IPVS, during the opening ceremony on Sunday night.

Plenty of local folklore present – many wished to be photographed with Maya warriors…

…or enjoyed a display of Maya dancing.

Time for some scientific work – this congress’ Tom Alexander lecture was given by Prof Dr John Harding, University of Saskatchewan, Canada. He touched on a survey he did with many veterinarians around the world, asking them what practices should be stopped, what practices should be started, and…

…what are the most dangerous diseases at the moment. PRRSv made it to the top, just beating PEDv.

Prof Dr Michael Ellis, University of Illinois, USA, summed up strategies to reduce variability in late finishers – e.g. sorting pigs, using ractopamine or applying immunocastration.

Dr Montserrat Torremorrell, University of Minnesota, USA is always good for interesting presentations. She updated the audience in her lead lecture on H1N1 influenza virus that co-circulation of various subtypes is not uncommon.

One of the more remarkable oral presentations of the day was given by Carmen Alonso, University of Minnesota. She explained about her research into the use of an electrostatic particle ionisation system (EPI), and how these devices in swine facilities can help remove not only dust but also influenza aerosols.

Prof Dr Hans Nauwynck, University of Ghent, Belgium dived into the history and the development of PRRS and predicted that the world hasn’t seen the last of the virus. Vaccines do not completely cover the virus, and new subtypes only emerged recently in Belgium. He said ‘he doesn’t trust the virus’.

Jeff Zimmerman, Iowa State University, United States, stated that pre-weaning litter oral fluid samples could be a good method for PRRSv surveillance.

The venue also houses a small trade show, with sponsors, large and small presenting themselves.

Merial Animal Health does a good job with Mexican dresses, a sombrero, and a cactus.

Three sponsor symposia were held, by Bayer, Hipra and Boehringer Ingelheim. This last company focused on the theme of prevention.

Jean Paul Cano of Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica, summed up various researches and strategies that could be applied to avoid infection – and also mentioned vaccination.

At the end of this sponsor symposium, the company’s Ernest Sanford was given a big round of applause. The former IPVS president (Vancouver, 2010) will retire later this year.

Prominent on the morning of the second day of IPVS 2014 was a lead lecture by Dr Frederick Leung, University of Hong Kong, on PRRSv genetic variability and its impact on virulence.

Anne Hemonic, French Institute for Pig and Pork Industry (IFIP), presented results of French recording and monitoring of total antibiotic usage in the French industry. This could help bringing total use down. Global level of exposure of pigs decreased by 18% between 2010 and 2012 in France, she said.

James Lowe, of Lowe Consulting, USA, hinted in the direction of a more diversified antimicrobial application strategy when saying that, for a better economic result, it is recommended to devise strategies that can identify and target the animals that are most likely to respond to antimicrobials.

Marku Johansen, Danish Pig Research Centre (VSP), spoke of Danish attempts to quantify causes of pre-weaning mortality in nine Danish breeding herds.

This is one of the slides which he presented, containing clear but variable data. He suggested that each strategy to lower pre-weaning mortality should therefore be made for each farm specifically.

Prof Dominiek Maes, University of Ghent, Belgium, presented recent research into the scoring of tail biting lesions in herds in Belgium.

Satellite symposia were held by Zoetis and MSD Animal Health. The MSD symposium featured emerging diseases, excellently introduced by Dr Joaquim Segalés, CReSA, Spain, followed by an introduction how to diagnose new pathogens and a impressive live account of veterinarian Matt Ackerman, Swine Veterinary Services, IN, USA – confronted with one of the first cases of PEDv in the US. Dr Miquel Collell, MSD Animal Health, closed this session with a presentation on batch farrowing.

The third day and last day of scientific papers is promising – Porcine Epidemic Diarrhoea (PED) virus is on the programme.

But first it is time to listen to a lead lecture by Dr Zvonimir Poljak, University of Guelph, Canada, on influenza virus in swine, transmissability within and between populations.

Dr Tanja Opriessnig, Roslin Institute, UK, informed the audience about porcine astrovirus – not much is known about its clinical significance.

Tan Tao, Boehringer Ingelheim China, gave a very clear and entertaining presentation about the rise of occasions of pseudorabies (Aujeszky’s Disease) in China.

Luis Gimenez-Iirola, Iowa State University, USA, had the honour to present one of the few oral papers on African Swine Fever (ASF) – it was mostly on how the university’s lab’s ELISA test can detect antibodies in serum and oral fluids.

And then it was time – PED time. In a room that was packed with vets (many had to keep standing), Dr Kyoung-Jin Yoon gave the lead lecture on this topic.

Some of the learned lessons Dr Yoon presented.

Various speakers followed, many on virus detection methods. Paul Thomas of Audubon Manning Veterinary Clinic, IA, USA, gave two practical presentations on how time and temperature as well as the disinfectant Stalosan F can be used to cleanse trucks from PED virus. Only two methods were 100% successful, he said: heating the truck to 71°C (160°F) for ten minutes or keeping it at 20°C (68°F) for one week.

Laura Greiner, of Carthage Innovative Swine Solutions, IL, USA, said that it is likely that PED virus is already moving through swine facilities befor it reaches a treshold for clinical disease presentation. This can be as early as 48 hours prior to clinical symptoms.

Dr Michael Murtaugh, University of Minnesota, USA, closed off this session, zooming in on feedback, or the use of intestinal contents in sow feed to induce immunity in her offspring.

Some conclusions of Dr Murtaugh – the duration of the immunity is a huge question.

Then – time to say goodbye. Some figures to close off. From what continents did the 2,200 delegates come? Of the 52 countries represented, Mexico was topping the list of course (533 delegates), followed by the USA (214) and China (142).

Division of the papers presented.

Then – most importantly – the votes for IPVS 2018. Please raise your hands for Brazil…

…or for China.

While the voting committee is counting…

…new IPVS president Pat Kirwan invites everybody to come to Dublin, Ireland, to attend the IPVS Congress in 2016. This will be co-organised with the European Symposium on Porcine Health Management.

And the winner is… Chongqing, China, home of the panda. China’s third consecutive bid paid off – albeit with a small margin.