Hog Health
In the constant microscopic tug-of-war, genes for antibiotic resistance have been around as long as bacteria. The more pressure you put on bacteria, the more they deploy defensive measures. Spencer Wayne, DVM, reflects.
For many, 2021 will not just be remembered as another year we battled COVID-19. It will also be remembered as the year African swine fever found its way back into the Western Hemisphere.
As we launch into a new year of production, a cluster of indicators show this year could be much better than current expectations. Let’s allow ASF to warm the bench while we look at the bullish indicators for 2022.
Registration is now open for SowBridge, the distance educational series for those who work with sows, boars and piglets, and with genetic and reproductive issues.
China’s Hebei province said on Wednesday that it has confirmed a new African swine fever outbreak in pigs being transported from other provinces.
The National Pork Board announced an additional $15 million investment of Pork Checkoff funds in the Swine Health Information Center, extending funding for the center through 2027.
Sow mortality continues to baffle the pork industry. Although no one has uncovered the smoking gun, most would agree that it’s a multifactorial problem and needs to be approached from many perspectives.
His warnings have gone largely unheeded, while wild pigs rapidly expand across Western Canada, with no nationally coordinated science-based containment strategy in place. For Brook, it’s a recipe for disaster.
USDA’s APHIS issued a revised Federal Order to allow certain swine products to safely move to the mainland U.S. from Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, as long as they meet certain conditions.
USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service is awarding more than $16.3 million to 64 projects with states, universities and other partners to strengthen programs to protect animal health.
Farmers have always been leaders, whether among their peers or leading the next generation. Agriculture has made the U.S. great; however, some seek to see it end. It’s time to embrace advocacy, Dyneah Classen says.
The FDA announces, via industry press releases, that it has approved several products for use in food animals.
Just in time to prevent and prepare for seasonal PRRS outbreaks, a team led by North Carolina State developed and calibrated a mathematical model for transmission of porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus.
Preventing foreign animal diseases, addressing a shortage of agricultural workers and reauthorizing a livestock price reporting law top the list of issues pork producers will virtually take to Capitol Hill this week.
USDA’s APHIS is leading a collaborative effort to study antimicrobial use and resistance on Midwest commercial swine farms focusing on use and resistance related to animal health and production-related indicators.
“Managing endemic enteric pathogens in swine populations requires accurate case definitions, proper sampling and appropriate diagnostic testing,” says Eric Burrough, Iowa State Diagnostic Laboratory.
African swine fever continues to spread widely in Vietnam. Government officials said this outbreak has forced the culling of 230,000 hogs – three times the number of hogs culled in 2020, Reuters reports.
Items and food entering a farm can carry pathogens that can be transmitted to swine and have severe consequences. Here are a few tips from Kayla Henness, DVM, with The Maschhoffs about food entry and UV chambers.
The Swine Disease Reporting System initiative now includes more than 950,000 unique submissions tested by PCR for the five U.S. porcine endemic agents. Here’s an update.
Supply-chain disruptions are hitting America’s meat producers and sending them scrambling for alternatives as they seek to care for farm animals and keep down costs.
Antimicrobial resistance is a “One Health” challenge that requires effort across both human and animal health sectors. Animal health companies have invested billions as part of a strategy to reduce antibiotic use.
The discovery of another case of ASF in farm pigs in Germany in an area previously free of the disease could make negotiations about lifting existing import bans with China and other major buyers more difficult.
There’s no question interest in feed biosecurity is increasing. Research has confirmed diseases can be transmitted through contaminated feed, providing an avenue for introduction to susceptible pigs via ingestion.
Research continues to show pH as a major factor in agricultural drinking water. The pH of the water, and the chemicals that adjust it, not only affect the palatability of the water but also the ability to disinfect it.
Farm workers can play a significant role in the transmission of influenza A virus within sow farms, according to Gustavo Lopez, DVM, a PhD candidate at the University of Minnesota.
Often in production herds, especially sow farms with experienced staff, we build internal farm system language or “barn speak” that can take on a life of its own. It’s time to clear it up, says Bill Hollis, DVM.
Researchers developed a quantitative risk assessment model to estimate the probability that one or more corn or soybean meal ocean vessels contaminated with ASF virus would be imported into the U.S. annually.
Whether you’re talking about pigs or people, COVID-19 or porcine reproductive respiratory syndrome (PRRS), zinc keeps coming up in the conversation as tool to help fight these serious health challenges.
China reported an outbreak of African swine fever (ASF) at a pig farm on Hainan island in the southern part of the country, the Paris-based World Organization for Animal Health said.
Alexis Main, graduate student at Oklahoma State University and 2021 College Aggies Online participant, clears up myths about what goes on behind closed doors on a pig farm and lessons she’s learned about biosecurity.