Dr. Christopher Chase: Herd Immunity Explained | Ep. 41

“The size of the virus isn't as important [to make a vaccine], it’s how complex it is. Coronavirus and Circovirus are not very complex. African Swine Fever and Pseudorabies are complex.” – Christopher Chase

Our guest is Dr. Christopher Chase. Dr. Chase is Professor from the Department of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences, South Dakota State University (SDSU), he is a native of Sisseton, SD, and attended SDSU. He received his DVM from Iowa State University (1980) and MS (1987) and Ph.D. (1990) from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He was an associate at the Viborg Veterinary Clinic, Viborg, SD, for 5 years and continued his active involvement in clinical veterinary medicine for 25 years. He is the past president of the South Dakota Veterinary Medical Association, American Association of Veterinary Immunologists, and past chair of the AVMA Council of Biologics and Therapeutic Agents (COBTA). He is serving as president of the American College of Veterinary Microbiologists until 2018. He was the South Dakota Veterinarian of the Year in 2009 and received the FO Butler Excellence in Research Award in 2010 and Outstanding Leadership in Undergraduate Research in 2011 from SDSU.

What you will learn:

• Definition of herd immunity;
• Meaning of R-naught/R-zero;
• What he would do if in charge of the pandemic situation;
• How to apply this knowledge to pig production;
• What can you do today to improve herd immunity at the farm level from a practical standpoint;
• What separates successful swine professionals from those that are not.

Chris’ favorite swine-related book: Diseases of Swine

Chris’ favorite book in general: Falling Upward and The Return of the Prodigal Son

This episode was edited and published by Lauro Faccin.