Five more Iowa counties have been declared free of pseudorabies — a disease that has spread through countless herds of hogs but which doesn’t effect people. Three of the counties are in the northeast — Benton, Dubuque and Fayette. One is in the northwest — Dickinson, and Jasper is in central Iowa.State Veterinarian Dr. John Schiltz says it’s been a 12-year battle to eradicate the swine disease from Iowa. He says about one-third of the 99 counties in the state are still trying to wipe it out.Dr. Schiltz says it will be several months yet before all of Iowa is free of the respiratory disease that’s killed hundreds of hogs.Dr. Schiltz says the declaration of these five counties getting on the “zero percent prevalence” list is an important step in winning the war on pseudorabies.
