At the 2025 World Pork Expo, the National Pork Producers Council hosted thousands of pork producers and agriculture professionals from across the globe for two days of education, networking, learning and connection in Des Moines, Iowa.

At this year’s forum, American Air Filter International presented initial research results from a University of Minnesota Department of Veterinary Population Medicine groundbreaking study. The results revealed that air filtration systems can dramatically reduce the occurrence of porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus in US swine operations.

A comprehensive longitudinal study analyzed 15 years of data from 413 sow farms participating in the university’s Morrison Swine Health Monitoring Project, spanning the period from 2009 to 2024. The research represents nearly one million sows and, for the first time, presents a solid financial business case for using air filtration to help reduce instances of PRRSV.

The study found that farms with commercial air filtration systems experienced significantly lower PRRSV outbreak rates compared to unfiltered operations; negative pressure filtered farms had a 51% lower PRRSV outbreak rate, while positive pressure filtered farms saw a 58% lower outbreak rate.

The research, led by Xiaomei Yue, postdoctoral associate with the Morrison Swine Health Monitoring Project, analyzed breeding herd data from 238 unfiltered operations, 128 farms with negative pressure filtration and 47 with positive pressure filtration systems. Researchers calculated total new PRRSV outbreaks and weeks at risk for each farm based on air filtration status, while accounting for herd size and the number of farms within a 35-kilometer radius. 

Using Generalized Additive Mixed Models, the study provided statistical evidence while controlling regional pig density and comparing filtered versus unfiltered farms within the same geographic areas.

The findings offer insightful data for swine producers considering air filtration investments. “A single PRRS outbreak can devastate a farm financially, so this research gives producers evidence-based guidance for implementing air filtration strategies to protect their operations from PRRS,” said Yue.

"PRRSV continues to pose significant challenges to the U.S. swine industry," said Cesar Corzo, University of Minnesota. "While air filtration methods combined with biosecurity measures have demonstrated effectiveness in preventing PRRSV introductions, this study is the first to comprehensively address the impact of different ventilation pressure types while controlling for factors such as spatial clustering and regional pig density."

Source: AAF International