Monitoring and mitigating risk to swine health. Improving swine health information. Conducting swine industry outreach. Surveillance and discovery of emerging swine disease. Preparedness and response. The Swine Health Information Center (SHIC) presented its 2021 Progress Report to the National Pork Board in January 2022, detailing highlights and successes of work done in 2021.
SHIC’s 2021 Progress Report offers an in depth look at the work done to address the Center’s mission of protecting and enhancing the health of the US swine herd through coordinated global disease monitoring, targeted research investments that minimize the impact of future disease threats, and analysis of swine health data. Launched in 2015 solely with Pork Checkoff funding, in 2021, the National Pork Board’s (NPB’s) Board of Directors voted to provide $15 million to fund SHIC’s work through 2027.
Governed by an independent board of directors, SHIC’s activities, reach, and impact grow annually. SHIC’s Monitoring and Analysis Working Group and Preparedness and Response Working Group continue to provide program oversight and decision-making. Each actively meet via conference calls to fulfill their respective objectives. In 2021, the NPB agreed to continue the work with another six years’ funding and the SHIC Board of Directors voted to hire an associate director who will work with Executive Director Paul Sundberg, DVM, PhD, DACVPM, to guide the Center’s projects. This position will be filled in early 2022.
In addition to reporting on the results of individual research and other projects to satisfy the 2021 Plan of Work, the 2021 Progress Report also gives details about SHIC’s programs. SHIC’s Global Swine Disease Monitoring Report provides near real-time information on disease occurrence and movement internationally, a particularly valuable resource for African swine fever monitoring. The Swine Disease Reporting System provides information on prevalent domestic swine disease movement and occurrence based on veterinary diagnostic lab data. SHIC’s Rapid Response Program is designed for epidemiological investigations of transboundary or newly emerging swine diseases to help investigate potential emerging disease occurrences. In cases of high morbidity/high mortality, where an etiology is either not identified or there is a strong supposition the identified pathogen is not the likely cause of the outbreak, there may be a need for further diagnostic work. In these cases, support for the fees of further diagnostic work may help identify newly introduced or emerging swine diseases. SHIC offers funding for additional diagnostic testing in approved cases. SHIC-funded Morrison Swine Health Monitoring Project (MSHMP) continues to monitor trends in pathogen incidence and prevalence.
SHIC, launched by the National Pork Board in 2015 solely with Pork Checkoff funding, 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.