Category Archives: Animal Health

The Morrison Swine Health Monitoring Project (MSHMP) helps identify industry needs via input from the project’s participants and other sources. Efforts to make the shared information more actionable to deliver increasing value to the US pork industry are shared in its recent report to the Swine Health Information Center. For example in 2020, Dr. Cesar A. Corzo, Associate Professor and Leman Chair in Swine Health and Productivity at the University of Minnesota Department of Veterinary Population Medicine, MSHMP coordinator, said they successfully built a system that allows the MSHMP team to quickly understand whether a porcine reproductive and respiratory virus (PRRSV) sequence they receive for review has been seen elsewhere. “We were able to build a robust database of PRRS sequences we can process, run a script, and tell quickly whether or not it resembles the one submitted,” he explained. “This process can give producers an answer within minutes, depending on when it was submitted.”

The Swine Health Information Center’s (SHIC) 2021 Plan of Work (POW) was approved by the SHIC Board of Directors during their January 28, 2021, meeting. While SHIC’s mission remains unchanged since inception, this annual review of projects and priorities directs actions. The POW is divided into sections addressing SHIC’s priorities surrounding information sharing, risk mitigation, response, and surveillance with significant activities planned in each category. Find the entire POW here.

Do you know someone considering raising pigs without antibiotics? Review this self-assessment tool containing a series of questions producers are encouraged to consider with their entire management team, including their herd veterinarian, when discussing a potential shift to Raised Without Antibiotics production. This document, prepared by AASV and the National Pork Board in 2018, is meant to act as a guide and foster conversation around this topic. Producers are encouraged to consider additional questions that may be relevant to their system when reviewing this tool.

The Swine Health Information Center’s (SHIC) January Domestic Swine Disease Monitoring Report is available. This month’s Domestic Swine Disease Monitoring Report shows that porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) detection was on the upper boundaries of the forecasted model at the end of November and beginning of December. There was a moderate increase in detection for porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV) in adult/sow farms, and porcine deltacoronavirus (PDCoV) in wean-to-market animals. Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae detection was similar to November. At a state level, PRRSV detection was three standard deviations above expected in Minnesota, Iowa, South Dakota, Nebraska, Missouri, and Indiana, PEDV in Illinois, PDCoV in Oklahoma and Illinois. The SDRS hosts talk with Dr. Deb Murray (New Fashion Pork) about her experiences using and applying veterinary diagnostic data for disease management and control in this month’s podcast.

The Swine Health Information Center’s (SHIC) December Domestic Swine Disease Monitoring Report is available. This month’s Domestic Swine Disease Monitoring Report shows porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) detection was on the upper boundaries of the forecasted model at the end of October and beginning of November, mostly from a substantial increase in detection from wean-to-market animals. During November, a moderate increase in PRRSV detection in the age category adult sow farm was observed. The October detection levels for porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV), porcine deltacoronavirus (PDCoV), and Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae (MHP) were similar from October. At a state level, PRRSV detection was three standard deviations above expected in Minnesota, Iowa, South Dakota, Nebraska, Missouri, and Indiana. A seasonal increase in the number of disease diagnosis for PRRSV, Influenza A, S.suis, G.parasuis, B. bronchiseptica, and P. multocida was detected. In the podcast, the SDRS hosts talk with Dr. Clayton Johnson, of Carthage Veterinary Services, about his experiences in using and applying veterinary diagnostic data for disease management and control.

The Swine Health Information Center’s Rapid Response Program (SHIC’s RRP) is an important part of SHIC-supported emerging disease preparedness. It’s designed for epidemiological investigations of transboundary or newly emerging swine diseases and is carried out by the Rapid Response Corps (RRC), a volunteer team of specifically-trained industry experts who analyze the patterns and pathways of entry of disease causing pathogens in affected herds. The first training for Corps members began in August 2017 and SHIC recently conducted refresher activities for all RRC Investigators to assure they maintain an understanding of the Program’s processes, timelines, and methodologies.

A team of investigators and staff from across four land-grant universities are spearheading a USDA sponsored pilot project entitled “The Development and Demonstration of a US Swine Health Improvement Plan (US SHIP) modeled after the National Poultry Improvement Plan”. Veterinarians are being encouraged to review, share, and point US pork industry stakeholders in your practice area, place of business, or region to the Letter of Introduction and the narrated US SHIP Project Presentation on the US Swine Health Improvement Plan website.

We are currently seeking breeding farms to enroll in a new AASV Foundation-funded research project. Specifically, we are seeking sow farms that have recently had an SVA outbreak that we can monitor through processing fluids.

We are currently seeking breeding farms to enroll in a new AASV Foundation-funded research project. Specifically, we are seeking sow farms that have recently had an SVA outbreak that we can monitor through processing fluids.

The swine industry understands the epidemiology of porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDv) and porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSv) better than ever. Still, the ability of producers to effectively estimate spatial and temporal variation in disease outbreak risk is lacking. By using data contributed by the Morrison Swine Health Monitoring Project (MSHMP), researchers at the University of Minnesota (UMN) built machine learning algorithms that predict whether a sow farm will break with PEDv two weeks in advance.