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SHIC Swine Disease Matrix Update: African Swine Fever Moves Up

The Swine Health Information Center (SHIC) revised the priority of African swine fever (ASF) on the Swine Disease Matrix from an average risk score of 7.7 to 8.3. This moved ASF from third on the Matrix to second. This action comes as multiple new outbreaks of ASF in China were reported in August and September, now totaling more than 20. Westward spread of ASF was observed with Bulgaria reporting its first case and Romania struggling to control the epidemic. On September 14, the OIE official report of the first ASF case in Belgium was released with three additional cases confirmed the following day by the Federal Agriculture Minister.

SHIC: Swine Disease Global Surveillance Report Bi-Monthly Update

The Swine Health Information Center (SHIC) posted an updated Global Swine Disease Monitoring Report this week. African swine fever (ASF) cases in China now exceed 20 and the disease has been discovered in Belgium as well as eastern Europe. In this report, details of the response to ASF in Belgium is detailed as well as present status in China. Timely Global Swine Disease Monitoring Reports and special announcements of new disease discovery are posted on SHIC’s website. And, if you have information about swine diseases anywhere around the world, please submit it here so we can learn more.

SHIC: Assessing the Needs, Funding the Projects, Answering the Problems – Chinese PRV Preparedness

Early detection and understanding sources of pseudorabies virus (PRV) are essential to contain spread and prevent economic losses, should the virus arrive in the US. US PRV surveillance now relies on antibody detection. However early response will need to have nucleic acid detection (PCR) to enable detection of the virus right away in clinical tissues sent to veterinary diagnostic labs (VDLs). The National Animal Health Laboratory Network (NAHLN) VDLs currently don’t have the direct ability to detect PRV in submitted clinical tissues with a validated PCR. When this was discovered, the Swine Health Information Center (SHIC) worked with other industry organizations and the National Pork Board (NPB) Swine Health Committee to develop a foundation for action. Availability of a new PCR test, developed with funding from SHIC, to discern classical PRV from the variant high path Chinese strain strengthens the US pork industry’s ability to respond quickly and effectively.

Special Announcement: ASF in China

The first case of African Swine Fever (ASF) has been reported in China. First identified on August 1st, the outbreak was located in the northeast, in the city Shenyang, district of Shenbei New, in the province Liaoning, swine dense area 130 miles (208km) of the North Korean border. Infection on a small farm with a herd of 383 pigs, where 47 pigs died from the disease, was confirmed by China Animal Health and Epidemiolology Center on Friday August 3rd, 11am, local time. [Source: Swine Health Information, August 3, 2018, By Paul Sundberg]

SHIC-Funded Feed Risk Study Leads to Stakeholder Meeting – What Happens Next?

In May 2017, the Swine Health Information Center (SHIC) released information from a study it funded showing the potential for viruses to contaminate and survive in feed ingredients. These surprising findings led to on-going research on transmission potential and mitigation. A meeting of stakeholders, including representatives of USDA, FDA, universities, industry organizations, producers, the feed processing industry, and SHIC, was held in June 2018. The objective of the meeting, hosted by SHIC and the National Pork Board, was to review current government policies and regulations and to make recommendations about research to help reduce the risk for pathogen transmission via feed and feed ingredients. A report from the meeting can be read here.

SHIC Investigates SVA Outbreak that Threatened a Plant’s Operations

Senecavirus A (SVA or Seneca Valley Virus) infection is indistinguishable from foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) and other swine vesicular disease, so every outbreak, including at harvesting plants, must be investigated. This takes significant state, federal, and producer time and resources. But the biggest risk of SVA is potential disruption of marketing chains during investigations at plants and other facilities. It was a close call in 2017. This investigation, funded by the Swine Health Information Center (SHIC) with in-kind contributions from the National Pork Board, reports about an incident where so many pigs needed to be held for investigation in the abattoir it threatened plant operations.

SHIC Contributes to JEV Investigation and Development of Convenient Test

While Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV) is endemic in Asia and the Pacific, many countries like the United States don’t have and don’t want this disease. If JEV infects a naïve herd, the mortality rate of infected piglets is close to 100 percent and 50 to 70 percent of sows experience reproductive failure. According to the World Health Organization, every year close to 68,000 humans are infected with JEV via mosquito vectors in affected Asian countries. The resulting viral encephalitis causes a 30 percent mortality rate in infected humans and 30 to 50 percent of those infected have permanent neurologic or psychiatric sequelae. Partially funded by the Swine Health Information Center (SHIC), researchers at the Kansas State Biosecurity Research Institute (KSBRI) asked if the virus would be sustainable and detectable in the North American pork industry.

SHIC Collaborates on Minimum Infectious Dose of FMD in Feed and Mitigation Strategies

The Swine Health Information Center (SHIC) will collaborate directly with USDA Ag Research Service on Plum Island, USDA-APHIS, National Pork Board, and other key researchers to determine the minimum infectious dose (MID) of foot and mouth disease (FMD) virus needed to infect pigs via feed ingredients using normal feeding behaviors. Simultaneously, this project will look at the effectiveness of possible mitigants being added to the feed to help neutralize the virus. To date, no study has looked at the dose needed to infect a pig via feed, using normal feeding behaviors. And the collaborations will enable the direct use of FMD instead of having to use a surrogate. Successful completion of the project will provide critical knowledge pertaining to the risk of introduction of FMD into the US pig production system by imported feed components as well as potential mitigation of that risk.

SHIC Drives Improved Readiness for Emerging Disease in US Pork Industry with PCR Catalog

When porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDv) hit the US in 2013, we could not effectively test for it. The North American pork industry learned a lesson and did something about it. Diagnostic preparedness and readiness for possible new or emerging production diseases has been a focus of the Swine Health Information Center (SHIC) since its 2015 inception. The recent publication of the Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) Assay Catalog for diagnostic laboratories demonstrates how far the pork industry has advanced in ability to test for emerging diseases.

SHIC Board Approves Project to Examine Future Industry Needs and Confirms Mission Statement

Always concerned about the future of the pork industry, the Swine Health Information Center (SHIC) Board of Directors June meeting included review of the organization’s mission statement and funding approval for two new projects. Industry partners including the National Pork Board, National Pork Producers Council, and American Association of Swine Veterinarians contributed to the review of SHIC’s mission statement and discussion about proposed projects. SHIC continues to ask questions about what is needed to safeguard the health of the US swine herd.