Author Archives: Paul Sundberg

The Swine Health Information Center (SHIC) is supporting a near real-time domestic swine disease monitoring system. The project will generate information useful for economic and animal health decision-making. Data will be analyzed to describe disease activity by major pathogen and/or by clinical syndrome, documenting disease activity (presence, incidence) with respect to geography while maintaining appropriate producer confidentiality.

Export markets play a big role in pork producers’ profitability. The ability to show when the national herd has or has not been exposed to a pathogen will help to keep exports growing and viable. Producers and their veterinarians may also be able to contain a pathogen more quickly if a diagnosis is determined through ELISA tests for oral fluids.

Memories of PEDv are never far from pork industry stakeholders’ minds. Anticipating another novel or transboundary disease will someday strike, the Swine Health Information Center (SHIC) took on creation of a Rapid Response Program including the infrastructure ability to respond to an outbreak from a known or unknown etiology. SHIC funded a proposal from Iowa State University to develop the Rapid Response Program including creation of a Rapid Response Corps, a team of skilled and purposefully trained persons.

The Swine Health Information Center (SHIC) continues to monitor emerging swine disease issues globally and reports the PRRSv strain discovered in sera of sows in five premises in Uruguay this July has been identified as a type 2 North American genotype. PRRSv has historically been reported in other South American countries, Chile, Colombia, Peru, Bolivia, and Venezuela, though this is a novel incident in Uruguay.

The Swine Health Information Center (SHIC) has funded a near real-time monitoring system for swine diseases around the world. Reviewed by SHIC’s Monitoring and Analysis Working Group, the system will include identification of potential hazards due to new diseases or changes in current diseases’ status, screening steps to evaluate the information collected, and informing the U.S. pork industry through regular, timely reporting.

The Swine Health Information Center (SHIC) recently funded a study to be conducted by Kansas State University researchers to investigate using dust samples to monitor for swine pathogens in US feed mills. There is potential for the findings to lead to development of a diagnostic laboratory panel of assays where a single submitted swab of feed mill dust could be analyzed for multiple feed-based bacteria and viruses – a low-cost tool that could be used to help address feed safety.

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.

Last week, the Swine Health Information Center (SHIC) joined the Institute for Infectious Animal Diseases (IIAD), a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Center of Excellence, and the National Pork Board (NPB) to host a workshop to discuss and build upon industry and government efforts identifying and developing a road map to address gaps for a nationally coordinated bio-surveillance system. In addition to the hosts, participants included pork producers, swine veterinarians, IIAD, DHS, American Association of Swine Veterinarians, National Pork Producers Council, as well as state and federal animal health officials. The workshop also received sponsorship from the DHS Science and Technology Directorate.