Category Archives: Animal Health

The Swine Health Information Center’s (SHIC) November Domestic Swine Disease Monitoring Report is available. This month’s Domestic Swine Disease Monitoring Report shows a substantial increase in detection of porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) in the wean-to-market category was associated with a new wave of detection of PRRSV RFLP 1-4-4 L1C variant strain. Also, a moderate increase in PEDV detection in the age category wean-to-market was observed in October. The advisory group has suggested that there may be an opportunity for a national plan to control and eliminate PEDV. As a reminder, there are no approved viral mitigants that can legally be added to feed fed to swine. Levels of detection of M. hyopneumoniae by PCR are at expected levels for this time of year. In the podcast, the SDRS hosts talk with Dr. Brigitte Mason, health assurance veterinarian from Country View Family Farms, about her experience with animal health management, disease management, control, and her advice to the swine industry to better handle animal health interventions.

Just in time to prevent and prepare for seasonal PRRS outbreaks, a team led by North Carolina State University researchers and funded by the Fats and Proteins Research Foundation, along with the University of Minnesota Morrison Swine Health Monitoring Project (MSHMP), funded by the Swine Health Information Center (SHIC), developed and calibrated a mathematical model for transmission of porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV). Their recently published work demonstrated the contribution of multiple unmeasured routes of PRRSV dissemination, including for the first time the role of animal by-products delivered via feed meals, and multiple transportation vehicle networks. It also provides strong evidence to support the need for cautious, measured PRRSV control strategies for transportation vehicles and, to some degree, feed by-products. The project provides valuable information and opportunities for the swine industry to focus effort on the most relevant modes of PRRSV between-farm transmission.

Farm workers can play a significant role in the transmission of influenza A virus (IAV) within sow farms, according to Gustavo Lopez, DVM, a PhD candidate at the University of Minnesota, under the advisorship of Dr. Montse Torremorell. [Souce: Pig Health Today 14 October 2021]

The Swine Health Information Center (SHIC) received a call when vesicles were observed in the snout area of pigs on multiple farms in Iowa and Minnesota from January to April 2021. Investigators Jianqiang Zhang, Pablo Piñeyro, and others from Iowa State University (ISU) College of Veterinary Medicine worked on the case. A total of 133 swine vesicular cases with pig ages of three to 6.5 months from Iowa farms were submitted to the ISU Veterinary Diagnostic Lab. All were foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV) PCR negative but they were also negative for Senecavirus A (SVA) and other known vesicular viral pathogens, leaving the causative agent(s) unidentified. When standard diagnostic protocols did not reveal satisfying information about the cause, a request for diagnostic fee support was reviewed and approved by SHIC.

The Swine Health Information Center (SHIC)-funded Swine Disease Reporting System (SDRS) initiative has completed another successful year. An aggregated database with diagnostic data from the Iowa State, Kansas State, University of Minnesota, South Dakota State, and Ohio State (beginning in October 2021) veterinary diagnostic labs (VDLs) is regularly updated, with monthly reports and podcasts to SHIC, as well as online interactive dashboards. The database now includes more than 950,000 distinct VDL submissions tested by PCR for the five US porcine endemic agents: porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV), porcine epidemic diarrhea (PEDV), porcine deltacoronavirus (PDCoV), transmissible gastroenteritis (TGEV), and Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae. Monthly etiologic summaries of digestive, respiratory, and neurologic diagnostics from the Iowa State VDL are also reported. Interactive online dashboards with filtering capabilities for age category, specimen, geographic region, are kept updated and are available on the project website (https://www.fieldepi.org/sdrs).

The Swine Health Information Center (SHIC) Fact Sheet on influenza viruses C and D has been updated. New information in the fact sheet on epidemiology, including host range, geographic distribution, and prevalence, as well as pathogenicity, all increase its relevance and value. Fact sheets are part of SHIC’s mission to protect the health of the US swine herd, providing guidance and resources for producers, practitioners, and diagnosticians who are on the front lines of swine health concerns is an ongoing effort. Influenza C virus (ICV) and influenza D virus (IDV) are potential emerging pathogens of pigs, although swine are not the primary host for either virus species. Swine can be naturally and experimentally infected with both ICV and IDV, but clinical illness occurs rarely. Currently, influenza A virus (IAV) is the only species of routine clinical significance in swine.

There is field and/or experimental evidence that feed and/or ingredients may be potential vectors of African swine fever virus (ASFV) or foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV) introduction. And introduction of ASFV or FMDV in a domestic feed manufacturing facility has the potential to unknowingly disseminate those viruses widely. Research is needed to determine optimal methods for decontaminating feed manufacturing facilities, especially equipment that is not designed to be disinfected. The Swine Health Information Center (SHIC) has funded a study, proposed by a group of co-investigators including Dr. Chad Paulk of Kansas State University, to evaluate methods of decontaminating feed manufacturing equipment, using Senecavirus A (SVA), porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV), and porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) contamination as domestic, pathogenic surrogates for foreign animal diseases.

Interest in feed biosecurity has been increasing. Recent experimental evidence confirmed African swine fever virus (ASFV), PEDV, Senecavirus A (SVA), and foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV) can be transmitted through contaminated feed, providing an avenue for introduction to susceptible pigs via ingestion. One way of reducing the risk of pathogen transmission through feed is to test feed ingredients and feed before they are introduced onto farms and fed to pigs. This would only be possible if sampling and nucleic acid extraction methods would allow efficient detection of pathogens in feed. In a study funded by the Swine Health Information Center (SHIC), principal investigator Dr. Diego Diel, Cornell University, and colleagues focused on comparing the performance of three commercially available nucleic acid extraction kits (CORE, IndiMag, MVP II). Results show the CORE extraction kit outperformed the other two kits evaluated.

The survival of several viruses in feed and feed ingredients for prolonged periods has been demonstrated. Feed and feed ingredients have also been investigated as sources of pathogen introduction to farms and as a potential source of infection to animals post consumption of contaminated feed. In a study led by Leonardo C. Caserta, Cornell University, and funded by the Swine Health Information Center (SHIC), researchers determined the rate of decay of Senecavirus A (SVA) in swine feed ingredients as a function of time and temperature and established half-life estimates for the virus. Study findings demonstrate that feed matrices are able to extend the survival of SVA, protecting the virus from decay. Additionally, it was demonstrated that consumption of contaminated feed can lead to productive SVA infection.

Ohio’s Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory (ADDL) will now be contributing data to the Swine Disease Reporting System (SDRS) to further enhance capabilities as a surveillance tool and for early detection of pathogens of economic consequence to US livestock production. ADDL provides regulatory testing support for disease control programs and full diagnostic laboratory services for veterinarians, livestock producers and agribusinesses within and beyond Ohio. The SDRS provides data used for disease prevention and biosecurity, disease monitoring, disease management, and disease forecasting. The Swine Health Information Center (SHIC) conceptualized and funded systems for near real-time domestic and global swine disease monitoring to enable better, faster, and more effective response to endemic or foreign infectious diseases. As a result, SHIC helps the industry toward better swine health information to positively impact the long-term sustainability of pork production with the Domestic Swine Disease Monitoring Report.