“Measurable data makes it clear there are patterns in biosecurity gaps at the finishing phase of production needing to be addressed,” says Megan Niederwerder, DVM, PhD, associate director of Swine Health Information Center (SHIC).
The SHIC board of directors has approved a revision to the 2022 Plan of Work, allocating $1 million to research in finishing phase biosecurity, after seeing the vulnerability of the finishing phase of production and the increased pressure it adds to the breeding and farrowing phases.
“Even if robust biosecurity protocols are being applied at the sow and breeding farm level, if we aren’t applying those same principles to protect our grow-finish pigs from being exposed to pathogens, they can serve as a source of continued disease pressure for the whole industry,” Niederwerder explains.
Recent data and SHIC Rapid Response Teams’ investigations found multiple instances where this phenomenon seems to be true, including Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae serotype 15 outbreaks in Iowa-based finishers, evidence of porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus outbreaks in finishers preceding outbreaks in sow barns and nursery and finisher sites being implicated as sources of increased porcine epidemic diarrhea virus outbreaks, notes a SHIC press release.
Niederwerder describes the program as taking a three-pronged approach, including:
1) Bioexclusion- preventing any disease from being introduced into the farm
2) Biocontainment- indicating that if a disease or infectious pathogen is introduced into a farm, that policies or procedures are in place to prevent spread to other sites on the farm or to other farms in the area
3) Transport biosecurity- prevent transport from being an area or a mechanism by which diseases are spread
The program will focus on investigating and developing cost effective solutions and new technologies for producers to implement on their farms.
SHIC, with Niederwerder leading the program’s charge, is focusing on the development of researchable questions around the topic and will open a request for proposals within the next several weeks.
As information becomes available through research funded in this program, SHIC plans to provide the information back to the producers as quickly as possible to help prepare and protect the U.S. herd.
“Our objectives are twofold. We want to reduce endemic disease pressure on the herd but also prepare and protect from any foreign animal disease introduction and spread,” Niederwerder explains.
