The Swine Health Information Center (SHIC) 2021 Plan of Work includes the investigation of biocontainment and bioexclusion as tools to help prevent or control an emerging swine disease outbreak on farms. To achieve this objective, SHIC is soliciting proposals to investigate cost-effective, innovative technologies, protocols, or ideas to implement biocontainment in the face of an emerging disease outbreak on swine farms. SHIC is also soliciting proposals to investigate cost-effective, innovative technologies, protocols, or ideas to implement bioexclusion to prevent or control an emerging disease outbreak on swine farms.
Biocontainment, as defined in medical dictionaries, usually refers to procedures needed to contain pathogens in laboratories. The SHIC 2021 Plan of Work addresses biocontainment saying, "Decreasing the amount of pathogens from leaving an outbreak site will help to protect neighboring farms and regions from emerging disease outbreaks. Assessing existing technologies or new ideas for cost-effectiveness will help inform producers’ decisions about implementation."
Effective biocontainment methodologies may be applied to a variety of viruses and/or bacteria, may be applied dependent upon expected transmission mode(s), or may be dependent on the epidemiology of the pathogen(s). Therefore, the biocontainment proposal should:
- Explain the proposed breadth or specificity of the proposed biocontainment methodologies for study.
- Identify the transmission mode or pathogen(s) of interest.
- Describe how the technology, protocol or idea proposes to enhance biocontainment for pathogen(s).
- Explain the proposed experimental design, including:
- How the target pathogen(s) or surrogate(s) for the pathogen(s) will be used to validate the technology, protocol, or biocontainment idea or if there is another method of validation.
There is a pool of approximately $100,000 available for the biocontainment research, but individual project proposals could be higher with sufficient justification. Collaborative projects demonstrating the most urgency and timeliness of completion, as well as efficient use of funds,will be prioritized for funding. The proposal template and instructions for completion and submission can be found here. The deadline for proposal submission is 5:00 PM CDT, May 7, 2021.
Bioexclusion refers to procedures needed to prevent entry of a pathogen or disease and contact with a population of animal, a part of biosecurity. Specifically, SHIC would like proposals that address the following 2021 Plan of Work items:
- The pork industry now uses a variety of bioexclusion protocols to protect swine health in breeding, farrowing and grow-finish facilities. More information is needed to motivate compliance, especially in grow-finish facilities. Demonstration projects or research validating the implementation of innovative bioexclusion protocols that include, for example, the use of record keeping, employees on-farm and between farm traffic patterns, and service vendors and their equipment could be used to facilitate implementation.
- A variety of commodity groups and organizations employ bioexclusion to protect their interests and facilities. A survey of these bioexclusion practices in other industries, or in federal, state, or private organizations, will help to look for innovative, cost-effective practices that may be implementable in the pork industry to help prevent disease introduction onto farms.
There is a pool of approximately $150,000 available for the bioexclusion research, but individual project proposals could be higher with sufficient justification. Collaborative projects demonstrating the most urgency and timeliness of completion, as well as efficient use of funds, will be prioritized for funding. The proposal template and instructions for completion and submission can be found here. The deadline for proposal submission is 5:00 PM CDT, May 14, 2021.
For questions on these requests for research funding proposals, contact Dr. Paul Sundberg at psundberg@swinehealth.org or (515) 451-6652.
As the world deals with the COVID-19 pandemic, SHIC continues to focus efforts on prevention, preparedness, and response to novel and emerging swine disease for the benefit of US swine health. As a conduit of information and research, SHIC encourages sharing of its publications and research. Forward, reprint, and quote SHIC material freely. SHIC is funded by America’s pork producers to fulfill its mission to protect and enhance the health of the US swine herd. For more information, visit http://www.swinehealth.org or contact Dr. Sundberg at psundberg@swinehealth.org.