With 12 new projects recently funded, the Swine Health Information Center (SHIC) is looking forward to advancing research efforts while fulfilling its mission to help prevent, prepare for and respond to emerging swine disease threats.
As published in SHIC’s 2025 Plan of Work, its research areas span across SHIC’s five strategic priorities: improve swine health information, monitor and mitigate risks to swine health, responding to emerging disease, surveillance and discovery of emerging disease, and swine disease matrices.
The new projects, initiated in fall 2025, will provide critical information and resources to help pork producers as they face emerging disease challenges in their swine herds, SHIC says in a release.
These projects will provide enhanced monitoring of swine diseases, mitigation strategies for emerging disease preparedness and response, novel biosecurity practices for reducing disease risks, diagnostic assay development for emerging diseases, whole genome sequencing as a forensic diagnostic tool, clinical relevance of newly identified agents from veterinary diagnostic lab submissions, and modernization of swine pathogen prioritization.
Out of 57 proposals from 19 institutions, $1.5 million was awarded in total. The funded projects include:
- Improve Swine Health Information
Expand the Domestic Swine Disease Surveillance laboratory networking – Include Illinois Veterinary and Diagnostic Laboratory
Principle Investigator: Giovani Trevisan, Iowa State University
Objective: Expand the SDRS laboratory network and regional representativeness by incorporating historical and prospective data from the Illinois Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory.
ISU technological transfer and implementation at OH ADDL of confirmed tissue disease diagnosis codes and prospective reporting to the SDRS
Principle Investigator: Giovani Trevisan, Iowa State University
Objective: Transfer and implement the current ISU VDL disease diagnosis Dx code matrix to OH ADDL for expanded data collation in monthly reports.
- Monitor and Mitigate Risks to Swine Health
Investigating trailer contamination rates and related factors at the cull sow harvest plant
Principle Investigator: Cesar Corzo, University of Minnesota
Objective: Determine the seasonal probability of PRRSV, PEDV, PDCoV, TGEV, and SVA trailer contamination at the cull sow harvest facility-trailer interface and investigate factors that contribute to contamination probability.
Evaluation of harvest plant dock protocols to reduce viral transfer to market hog trailers
Principle Investigator: Cesar Corzo, University of Minnesota
Objective: To determine whether transfer of viruses from the dock to the trailer occurs when using disposable plastic boots and/or a surface powder sanitizer and assess the unloading interventions that prevent the next load of pigs and farm from becoming infected.
Assessing pathogen contamination in dead boxes of PRRSV-negative swine farms
Principle Investigator: Igor Paploski, University of Minnesota
Objective: Assessing the viral contamination around dead animal disposal structures in PRRSV or PEDV negative farms and investigate if rendering vehicles can spread infectious agents between farms.
Bridging industry data and disease risk: movement and biosecurity insights into PRRSV outbreaks
Principle Investigator: Gustavo De Sousa E Silva, Iowa State University
Objective: Assess the association of movement types with the timing and frequency of PRRS outbreaks; identify the roles of highly connected sites, trucks, and personnel associated with outbreaks, describe high-risk movement patterns.
- Responding to Emerging Disease
Determining the diagnostic test characteristics of Japanese encephalitis virus RT-rtPCR assay using clinical samples in Australia
Principle Investigator: Rahul K Nelli, Iowa State University
Objective: Develop and evaluate the diagnostic specificity and sensitivity of pan-JEV RT-rtPCR assay using field samples of known status from Australia.
- Surveillance and Discovery of Emerging Disease
Characterization of a PEDV variant strain associated with the recent outbreaks in Illinois and Iowa
Principle Investigator: Jianqiang Zhang, Iowa State University
Objective: Characterize the PEDV 6-nt deletion variant in comparison with a 2013 non-S INDEL PEDV using a pig challenge model for their virulence, duration of virus shedding, and cross protection.
Improving molecular surveillance of PRRSV-2: Quantifying global and domestic risks of PRRSV-2 variants of concern
Principle Investigator: Kimberly VanderWaal, University of Minnesota
Objective: Expand lineage-variant classification to other countries to monitor transboundary introductions of PRRSV-2, inform international swine disease risks, and improve the quality of swine health information for PRRSV-2 by enabling PRRS-Loom dashboard end-users to visualize their own sequences.
Optimizing the TELSVirus workflow for improved surveillance and characterization of swine respiratory viruses
Principle Investigator: Noelle Noyes, University of Minnesota
Objective: Increase the sensitivity of the TELSVirus workflow for low-abundance respiratory viruses in oral fluid samples, modify the workflow to accommodate low-input samples, improve the utility of WGS analysis from TELSVirus data.
- Swine Disease Matrices
Evaluating PEDV non-S INDEL and S INDEL spike gene-based differential PCRs and determining the detection frequency of these two PEDV strains
Principle Investigator: Jianqiang Zhang, Iowa State University
Objective: Evaluate four PEDV non-S INDEL and S INDEL gene-based differential real-time PCR assays and determine the detection frequency of non-S INDEL and S INDEL PEDV strains in PEDV screening PCR-positive samples.
Modernizing Pathogen Prioritization for US Swine Health: A Risk-Based Framework for 2025 and Beyond
Principle Investigator: Eric Neumann, Epi-Insight USA
Objective: Develop a harmonized, multi-criteria framework with transparent definitions to prioritize both viral and bacterial swine pathogens and deliver reproducible tools and documentation to allow future updating of the matrices.
In addition to these 12 projects, six projects addressing the SHIC 2025 Plan of Work have been selected for awards through a co-funding partnership with the Foundation for Food & Agriculture Research, SHIC notes.
