Effect of WUR Genotype on Resilience to a Multi-factorial Natural Disease Challenge in Pigs

The objectives of this study were to evaluate the effect of WUR genotype on disease resilience in pigs. Phenotypic data from 2,133 wean to finish pigs were collected in a natural disease challenge trial and associated with genotype at the WUR gene, which has previously been found to be associated with resistance to PRRS. The results from this study suggest that pigs that carry the favorable allele at this genetic marker have higher resilience to this multi-factorial natural disease challenge, which included the PRRS virus. PRRS plays an influential role in the swine industry, yet vaccinations have limited effectiveness due to the virus’ ability to mutate into new forms. Thus, leveraging genetics to develop more resilient commercial swine populations can not only mitigate the financial effects of various infectious diseases, but also increase the overall welfare of commercial swine.