Author Archives: Paul Sundberg

Currently, diagnosis of porcine circovirus type 3 is based on quantifying viral DNA by PCR and occasional confirmation by in situ hybridization of lesions associated with PCV3 infection. However, PCV3 has been detected in clinically and subclinically infected animals, and data to help standardize the PCV3 case definition is needed. A SHIC-funded study conducted by principal investigator Dr. Pablo Pineyro, Iowa State University, provided valuable insights into the diagnosis and prevalence of PCV3 in reproductive failure and surveillance cases submitted to the ISU-VDL as well as the synergism of PCV3 with PRRSV and PCV2.

With funding provided by SHIC, the Morrison Swine Health Monitoring Project team at the University of Minnesota developed and tested a tool to enable timely communication of regional disease activity, The Early Regional Occurrence Warning project. TEROW represents additional infrastructure to respond to emerging diseases and highlights efforts towards preparedness, as it can be utilized for a wide range of diseases with the application of standardized monitoring through MSHMP.

With funding from SHIC, the Foundation for Food & Agriculture Research, and Pork Checkoff, a team comprised of Dr. Daniel C. L. Linhares, Dr. Gustavo de Sousa e Silva, Dr. Ana Paula Poeta Silva, and Daniel Moraes with the Iowa State University College of Veterinary Medicine have begun a study examining manure pumping effects on disease onset in wean-to-finish pigs. Their objective is to identify practices related to manure pumping that can be managed to decrease incidence of disease onset in these pig populations. Their study will identify risk factors associated with disease onset in wean-to-finish sites following manure pumping and spread as well as detection of PRRSV and PEDV in pigs and environmental surfaces of wean-to-finish sites before and after manure pumping. The interim report reveals learnings to date.

The Swine Health Information Center and American Association of Swine Veterinarians hosted a webinar on porcine sapovirus, a potentially emerging disease, on August 30 with 394 registrants from 22 countries. Speakers shared diagnostic and field experience with PSaV including clinical presentation, production impacts, control/response strategies, and other insights. Cumulatively, presenters offered advice on the risks of narrowly focusing on a single pathogen during a diagnostic investigation, which may result in missed detections of emerging or less common pathogens. A definitive lab diagnosis is necessary to know which pathogen or combination of pathogens are the cause of clinical disease in your swine herd.

Research proposals investigating tongue tips as a novel diagnostic sample type are now being accepted as part of a recently released SHIC RFP. Diagnostic investigation of tongue tips from stillborn pigs and neonatal mortalities may be used to gain information about PRRSV, or other pathogens, circulating during gestation and being vertically transmitted from the gestating sow to her litter. Tongue tips might also be used to monitor viral pathogen horizontal transmission in a variety of ages of pigs. Research into the use of tongue tip monitoring will help provide producers and their veterinarians with critical information that they may need to effectively respond to an emerging disease outbreak.

Research proposals investigating tongue tips as a novel diagnostic sample type are now being accepted as part of a recently released SHIC RFP. Diagnostic investigation of tongue tips from stillborn pigs and neonatal mortalities may be used to gain information about PRRSV, or other pathogens, circulating during gestation and being vertically transmitted from the gestating sow to her litter. Tongue tips might also be used to monitor viral pathogen horizontal transmission in a variety of ages of pigs. Research into the use of tongue tip monitoring will help provide producers and their veterinarians with critical information that they may need to effectively respond to an emerging disease outbreak.

National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility directors and research leaders invited Swine Health Information Center Board of Directors members and staff to tour the new facilities in Manhattan, Kansas, in late July. The tour and presentations provided insight into the new facilities’ abilities to achieve its mission of protecting the US livestock industry against transboundary, emerging, and zoonotic animal diseases. The team also explored potential collaboration to meet SHIC’s objectives of minimizing the impact of emerging disease threats through preparedness, and targeted research investments.