Reviewing recent successes and ongoing projects topped the Swine Health Information Center (SHIC) Board of Directors’ agenda for their June meeting. With the three action steps of prevent, prepare, and respond in mind, the Board discussed the best ways to continue to return value on the investment producers have made in SHIC.
The Board focused on the success and continued challenges of SHIC’s role as a resource to address the health of the nation’s swine industry. They recognize foreign animal disease as a major concern to the industry as well as new or emerging diseases. SHIC’s work in this area has continued to help producers address these issues, including collaborating with the National Pork Board and USDA to help develop the ability to use oral fluids as a surveillance and monitoring tool for FMD, CSF and ASF and tracking new developments such as the Central Nervous Syndrome seen in a few herds throughout the U.S. in 2017.
Updates on projects funded and coordinated by SHIC were also presented and discussed. One project, the sow and secondary pig markets paper, describes unique movements and risk factors of these markets that deserve to be studied further. Another update came from research looking at the risks of importing disease in feed ingredients. Furthering this research by looking at effective mitigation is underway.
"Our Board of Directors is engaged with the projects and research undertaken by SHIC. We are very pleased to see the quick response when new research is needed and collaboration between SHIC and other organizations concerned with swine health," said Dr. Daryl Olsen, board president. "We want to continue our work to prevent, prepare, and respond to protect the health of the nation’s swine herd."
The SHIC Board of Directors also meets monthly via conference call to address any new issues and monitor ongoing projects.
Funded by America’s pork producers to protect and enhance the health of the US swine herd, the Swine Health Information Center focuses its efforts on prevention, preparedness, and response. As a conduit of information and research, SHIC encourages sharing of its publications and research for the benefit of swine health. Forward, reprint, and quote SHIC material freely. For more information, visit http://www.swinehealth.org or contact Dr. Paul Sundberg at psundberg@swinehealth.org.