Category Archives: Animal Health

In a recently completed study funded by the Swine Health Information Center (SHIC), contemporary emerging and foreign animal disease (FAD) surveillance practices were studied. One of the study’s authors, Dr. Jeff Zimmerman of Iowa State University, points out the dramatic change the domestic pork production industry has experienced over just a few years with much larger herds and populations in regional areas. “Bigger herds have much more traffic including trucks, people, feed, and movement of pigs between sites,” he observed. “That increases the likelihood and speed of disease transmission.”

The Swine Health Information Center (SHIC) continues to monitor Streptococcus equi subspecies zooepidemicus (S. zooepidemicus) in the US. This includes recent cases in Pennsylvania where, on December 23, 2019, their Department of Agriculture designated S. zooepidemicus in swine a dangerous transmissible disease (DTD). By Pennsylvania law, the state’s Department of Agriculture has authority to monitor the domestic animal population of the Commonwealth to determine the prevalence, incidence, and location of transmissible diseases of animals. The DTD designation provides legislative authority for requiring reporting of S. zooepidemicus along with penalties for noncompliance in Pennsylvania.

When the Swine Health Information Center (SHIC) was formed July 1, 2015, it was with the understanding it was a five-year project. The proposal language surrounding the Center’s formation stated, “Funding of the Center past its five-year life will depend on it being able to demonstrate a sufficient return on the investment to justify keeping it running.” Following presentation and approval of SHIC’s 2019 Progress Report on January 7, 2020, the National Pork Board (NPB) Board of Directors voted to extend the project for two more years, using SHIC’s existing funds. NPB also agreed to continued consideration of future funding and coordination beyond the two-year extension. In the 2019 report, it is clear African swine fever (ASF) required significant resources, however, SHIC remained faithful to its mission to protect the health of the US swine herd through comprehensive preparedness, monitoring, response, and communications activities. The 2019 Progress Report details progress in each of these areas.

Eradication of porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) from the pig population of Hungary started in 2014 on the basis of the territorial principle. In order to reach this goal it was crucial to render each fattening unit free of this disease, since fattening units play a significant role in spreading the virus all over the country. In 2015, 188 out of 307 large-scale fattening farms (61.2%) kept PRRS-positive animals. The main source of infection of these farms was the import of PRRS-infected fattening pigs. The following methods were used during the eradication from 2017: (1) Only pigs coming from PRRS-free farms were allowed to be used for fattening in Hungary; (2) Quarantine of all herds for 60 days; (3) PCR test for PRRS 48 hours after the arrival of the prefattening animals; (4) Serological test for PRRS at the end of the quarantine period. If any diagnostic test gave even one positive result and the result was confirmed by another test, the stock had to be sold for slaughter within 15 days or placed outside Hungary, so that the infected stock would not compromise the PRRS status of that area. PRRSV eradication on large-scale fattening units applying all-in/all-out operation was relatively simple, using the depopulation-repopulation method. On permanently operating farms, the infected herd was sold from time to time, without having to be repopulated until the last delivery. After cleaning, disinfection and restocking, the repopulation was done with PRRS-free animals. As the eradication progressed over the years, a ban on the import of infected fattening pigs was imposed. As a consequence of these measures, by the end of 2018, Hungarian large-scale fattening farms became free of PRRS. Maintaining the national-level PRRS-free status of large-scale pig fattening units contributes to eliminating a significant cost factor from the Hungarian pork production industry, and opens the way for a significant reduction in antibiotic consumption as well. Szabó I, Molnár T, Nemes I, Abonyi T, Terjék Z, Bálint Á. PRRSV eradication on large-scale fattening pig farms in Hungary between 2014 and 2019. Acta Vet Hung. 2019 Dec. https://doi.org/10.1556/004.2019.052

Interspecies transmission of influenza A virus is believed to be a principal mechanism contributing to the emergence of novel influenza strains that pose a threat to human and swine health. While extensive education has been directed at swine producers, the AASV Influenza Committee would like to gauge swine veterinarians’ approach to limiting bidirectional influenza transmission and communicating the risk of such transmission. The committee would like to learn more about your thoughts and perceptions regarding the public health risk of swine lineage influenza, your recommendations to limit the transmission of disease between people and pigs, and your ability to access information regarding the virus and disease. This information will be used to direct future activities of the Influenza Committee.

Iowa State University and the University of Minnesota are enrolling herds in two PRRS projects.

Interspecies transmission of influenza A virus is believed to be a principal mechanism contributing to the emergence of novel influenza strains that pose a threat to human and swine health. While extensive education has been directed at swine producers, the AASV Influenza Committee would like to gauge swine veterinarians’ approach to limiting bidirectional influenza transmission and communicating the risk of such transmission. The committee would like to learn more about your thoughts and perceptions regarding the public health risk of swine lineage influenza, your recommendations to limit the transmission of disease between people and pigs, and your ability to access information regarding the virus and disease. This information will be used to direct future activities of the Influenza Committee.

On December 4, the Swine Health Information Center (SHIC) and American Association of Swine Veterinarians (AASV) sponsored a webinar titled, “Disease Management of Viral Myelitis.” Designed for veterinary practitioners and pork producers, information presented by diagnosticians as well as case studies provided insight into symptoms of these central nervous system (CNS) diseases, appropriate steps for diagnosis, as well as on-farm management experience with porcine astrovirus 3 (PoAstV3), porcine sapelovirus (PSV), and porcine teschovirus (PTV). A video of the webinar presentations is available on here or in the AASV Video Library.

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

An updated Swine Health Information Center (SHIC) Diagnostic Assay Catalog has been posted and now includes Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assays (ELISAs) for detection of antibodies in serum and oral fluids against Hepatitis E, sapelovirus, teschovirus, swine influenza virus, porcine circovirus 3 (PCV3), and atypical porcine pestivirus in addition to 18 Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) Assays. The initial SHIC PCR Assay Catalog, published in 2018, contained 17 SHIC-funded tests. The catalog illustrates how far the pork industry has advanced in the ability to test for emerging diseases as well as how SHIC is fulfilling its mission of diagnostic preparedness and readiness for possible new or emerging production diseases.