Category Archives: Animal Health

The Swine Health Information Center’s Domestic Swine Disease Monitoring Report began with the goal of providing aggregated endemic swine pathogen PCR detection statistics to inform the US pork industry on disease trends and prevalence. The Swine Disease Reporting System database used for the report is populated with information from participating veterinary diagnostic labs and shared in monthly PDF and audio (podcast) reports as well as via a live, interactive online dashboard. A recent renewal by SHIC funds the program through September 2024.

During the 2023 NAPRRS/NC229 International Conference of Swine Viral Diseases (ICSVD), the Swine Health Information Center hosted a special session, “Biosecurity in the US Swine Industry.” SHIC invited four principal investigators in its Wean-to-Harvest Biosecurity Research Program, that is cooperatively funded with the Foundation for Food & Agriculture Research and Pork Checkoff, to speak about their bioexclusion, biocontainment and transport biosecurity research results.

The Swine Health Information Center’s Standardized Outbreak Investigation Program (SOIP) was introduced in early 2023 with a downloadable standardized outbreak investigation Word-based form. Now, a web-based application to conduct outbreak investigations is available. Developed in response to an industry need for a standardized tool to make sustainable progress on biosecurity, this expert-built application provides for consistent investigation and data collection.

Infectious diseases such as PED, PRRS, influenza, and others can be transmitted through contaminated airborne particles. A variety of industries use different technologies to control aerosolized emissions such as airborne pathogens. To investigate novel technologies from other industries for potential translation to swine facilities, SHIC funded Dr. Montserrat Torremorell, University of Minnesota, and colleagues to conduct an extensive review of current and prospective aerosol technologies. Their findings have now been published in Frontiers in Veterinary Science in a report titled, “Control technologies to prevent aerosol-based disease transmission in animal agriculture production settings: a review of established and emerging approaches.”

The Swine Health Information Center’s (SHIC) December Domestic Swine Disease Monitoring Report is available.

Livestock trailer cleanliness is normally determined by visual evaluation, assessing if it is free of organic material and suitable to return to a farm. However, studies have shown visual inspection may be insufficient to ensure cleanliness and reduce disease transmission risk because viruses and bacteria are microscopic. In a Swine Health Information Center Wean to Harvest Biosecurity Program study conducted by Dustin Boler, Carthage Innovative Swine Solutions, and Bailey Harsh, University of Illinois, the suitability of bioluminescence for evaluating trailer cleanliness was assessed and confirmed as a prospective testing method.

During the 2023 NAPRRS/NC229 International Conference of Swine Viral Diseases (ICSVD), the Swine Health Information Center will present a special session, “Biosecurity in the US Swine Industry.” SHIC invited four principal investigators of projects funded through its Wean-to-Harvest Biosecurity Research Program to speak. The presenters for the session will be introduced by SHIC Executive Director Dr. Paul Sundberg. Associate Director Dr. Megan Niederwerder will start the session by sharing the rationale for the research program and its related efforts to help producers fill this biosecurity gap.

The Swine Health Information Center’s (SHIC) November Domestic Swine Disease Monitoring Report is available.

The opportunity to provide input for the Swine Health Information Center’s 2024 Plan of Work remains open until November 10, 2023. Input may include topic areas, research priorities, and identified industry needs in which SHIC should focus efforts, such as an emerging swine disease or an emerging swine health issue. SHIC’s Plan of Work helps guide activities for the coming year across five strategic priorities, including improving swine health information, monitoring and mitigating risks to swine health, responding to emerging disease, surveillance and discovery of emerging disease, and swine disease matrices. Input across all five areas is welcomed and encouraged.

The potential for Japanese encephalitis virus introduction, establishment, and spread in the US continues to drive emerging disease prevention and preparedness activities by the Swine Health Information Center and other stakeholders. Following SHIC’s October 2022 symposium, “Japanese Encephalitis Virus: Emerging Global Threat to Humans & Livestock,” hosted by the Center for the Ecology of Infectious Diseases at the University of Georgia, development of a Japanese encephalitis informational website was identified as a priority action item. The site, developed by CEID and sponsored by SHIC, is now live and can be found at JEVISN.org.