In all walks of life, partnerships are vital. And networking is empowering. Success requires sharing both credit and challenges, and not working in silos. Together, National Pork Board (NPB) and Swine Health Information Center (SHIC) have formed such an impactful partnership, providing vetted information about emerging diseases, both domestic and transboundary, to protect the health of animals, the food supply, and producers’ livelihoods.

“SHIC was formed with Checkoff funds in 2015 with the sole purpose of focusing on emerging disease,” says Dr Paul Sundberg, executive director of SHIC. “When the porcine epidemic diarrhea outbreak started in the United States in 2013, it became apparent we needed more attention on preparation, prevention, and response.”

In harmony with American Association of Swine Veterinarians (AASV), National Pork Producers Council, US Department of Agriculture, and others, NPB is committed to African swine fever (ASF) outbreak prevention, preparedness, and response, as it is the number one emerging swine disease concern globally. It is SHIC’s role to supplement the activities with feedback, additional ideas, and funding if it is needed.

“Producer leaders direct NPB functions,” said Dr Dusty Oedekoven, chief veterinarian for NPB. “For swine health, we have a producer-led task force to provide input for research and education. Last fall, we took producers from varying operation types and sizes to the European Union.1 It was beneficial to get their feedback on how other countries handled ASF and how the lessons learned could direct US planning and reaffirm the ASF priorities set by the industry.”

Producer input takes the technical aspects of SHIC and NPB research to on-farm practicality. Oedekoven continued, “it is the producers’ dollars, and our cooperative work needs to fit the business needs of producers.”

The network benefits the producer through veterinarians, who work together to share animal health challenges and proposed solutions. With the help of the Swine Medicine Education Center at Iowa State University, AASV and SHIC organize technical webinars on emerging diseases throughout the year.

“The US pork industry is unique,” added Sundberg. “We all have our own audiences, like AASV focuses on veterinarians while the other organizations’ are producers. But when we go together to the state or federal animal health officials or the public health officials like CDC, our information has been vetted through all the organizations on behalf of pork producers, and we are in unison in our messaging and objectives.”

Stay updated with SHIC’s research, emerging disease information sheets and webinars by visiting swinehealth.org. Reference producer-focused, on-farm resources for ASF at porkcheckoff.org.

Reference

*1. National Pork Board. US delegation visits the EU to learn insights on ASF prevention, preparedness, and response [editorial]. J Swine Health Prod. 2023;31(2):93-95.

*Non-refereed reference.