NPPC DELEGATES APPROVE DISEASE AND DRUG PROGRAMS Delegates from the National Pork Producers Council, NPPC, yesterday approved programs for control and eradication of pseudorabies and establishment of a national safe drug use program. The delegate body, attending the American Pork Congress in Indianapolis, approved a pseudorabies control and eradication program at the state level after a recommendation from NPPC's PRV (pseudorabies virus) oversight committee. The PRV committee received results of a three year, five state pilot project which had a 97.5 pct success rate in eradication of the disease within 116 hog herds. The project was jointly funded by the USDA and NPPC. "Primarily it (the program) allows individual states to deal with their own problems according to a timetable that suits them best," Mike Wehler, member of the NPPC's PRV oversight committee said. In regards to safe drug use, the delegates approved a plan asking that NPPC be active in establishing a national safe drug use program. The program would establish better relationships between producers and veterinarians and eventually lead to a quality assurance program in pork production, according to the plan. "This program basically communicates to the FDA that we are concerned about safe drug use and will do our part to use drugs safely, if FDA will allow the same policy to continue in effect," Wehler said.