Industry opinion on the likely routes of introduction of highly pathogenic porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome into Australia from south-east Asia

Abstract

Objective: To assess industry expert opinion on the likely occurrence of entry and exposure routes relevant to a potential incursion of highly pathogenic (HP) porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS) virus from south-east Asia to Australia.

Design: Expert opinion elicitation of pig-industry stakeholders using a face-to-face questionnaire.

Results: Pig industry experts identified exposure routes involving the disposal of food waste to have the highest probability of occurrence. They were also concerned about the exposure of commercial pigs to humans acting as fomites of PRRS virus, and to feed and additives imported from south-east Asia. They did not consistently agree on the probability of occurrence of entry routes.

Conclusion: This study demonstrated that the expert elicitation technique was useful in rapidly assessing opinion from a large group of pig industry experts regarding exposure of pigs in Australia to HP-PRRS virus. The results of this survey were used to direct a risk assessment of an incursion of HP-PRRS.

Keywords: Australia; expert opinion; import risk assessment; pigs; porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome.