The Iowa State University College of Veterinary Medicine (ISU CVM) is seeking veterinary student applicants for the Swine Veterinary Internship Program (SVIP). There will be several openings for summer 2020! Details, the application form and instructions can be found here
Monthly Archives: November 2019
Application Period Now Open for Boehringer Ingelheim Research Awards on Porcine Respiratory Diseases
Practicing veterinarians, researchers and academics may now apply for one of three $35,000 awards for research related to infectious respiratory disease in pigs.
Protecting U.S. Swine Health Using A “One Health” Approach
This week is World Antibiotic Awareness Week and USDA’s Agricultural Research Service (ARS) remains committed to using a “One Health” approach in conducting research that will identify solutions to help prolong the usefulness of a very precious resource–antibiotics. For example, ARS research includes understanding how common production practices might impact antimicrobial resistance and understanding whether certain animal pathogens may be a public health concern. Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is one bacteria type that is a public health concern because of its resistance to some antibiotics which can make it difficult to treat. MRSA has been found in livestock – mainly in swine. One particular MRSA strain, called ST5, has raised additional public health concerns because it is a major cause of human infections globally. [Source: USDA 20 November 2016]
FDA Releases 2016-2017 NARMS Integrated Summary, Streamlines Reporting Format
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration, in cooperation with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (USDA-FSIS), its partners in the National Antimicrobial Resistance Monitoring System (NARMS), released the 2016-2017 NARMS Integrated Summary. The new streamlined format will replace the annual NARMS Integrated Reports and enable NARMS partners to issue more timely public updates in the future. [Source: FDA 22 November 2019]
Webinar Dec 5: Addressing Farrowing House Scours – Field and Lab Perspectives
National Hog Farmer is pleased to announce another episode of “Science Talks,” a webinar series sponsored by Merck Animal Health, airing on December 5 at 1 p.m. Central. During this one-hour video webinar “Addressing Farrowing House Scours – Field and Lab Perspectives”, Drs. Matthew Sturos and Paul Thomas will discuss the different causes, case presentations, and treatment and control options of farrowing house scours.
SHIC Diagnostic Assay Catalog Updated with New Tools
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.
Pork Board Collaborates with Homeland Security Against African Swine Fever
The Department of Homeland Security Science and Technology Directorate and the National Pork Board entered into a collaborative agreement to assess potential methods to disinfect and decontaminate surfaces from African swine fever virus. As a proactive measure to address the spread of ASF virus occurring now in other parts of the world, scientists at S&T’s Plum Island Animal Disease Center will evaluate commercial disinfectants and methods to decontaminate porous and non-porous surfaces typically associated with swine production facilities. [Source: National Hog Farmer 13 Nov 2019]
Foreign Animal Disease Preparation Bulletin
Read the latest Foreign Animal Disease Preparation Bulletin brought to you by the Pork Checkoff, in collaboration with the National Pork Producers Council, Swine Health Information Center, USDA, and AASV.
Collecting Oral Fluid Samples from Due-to-Wean Litters
Oral fluids are a common diagnostic sample in group-housed nursery, grow-finish, and adult swine. Although oral fluids from due-to-wean litters could be a valuable tool in monitoring pathogens and predicting the health status of pig populations post-weaning, it is generally not done because of inconsistent success in sample collection. The objective of this study was to determine the optimum procedure for collecting oral fluid samples from due-to-wean litters. Successful collection of oral fluids from due-to-wean litters using “Litter Oral Fluid” (LOF) or “Family Oral Fluid” (FOF) sampling techniques were compared in 4 phases involving 920 attempts to collect oral fluids. Phase 1 testing showed that prior exposure to a rope improved the success rates of both LOF (33.4%) and FOF (16.4%) techniques. Phase 2 determined that longer access to the rope (4â¯h vs 30â¯min) did not improve the success rate for either LOF or FOF. Phase 3 evaluated the effect of attractants and found that one (Baby Pig Restart®) improved the success rate when used with the FOF technique. Phase 4 compared the success rates of “optimized LOF” (litters previously trained) vs “optimized FOF” (litter previously trained and rope treated with Baby Pig Restart®) vs standard FOF. No difference was found between the FOF-based techniques, but both were superior to the “optimized LOF” technique. Thus, FOF-based procedures provided a significantly higher probability of collecting oral fluids from due-to-wean litters (mean success rate 84.9%, range 70% to 92%) when compared to LOF-based methods (mean success rate 24.1%, range 16.5% to 32.2%). Almeida M, Rotto H, Schneider P, Robb C, Zimmerman J, Holtkamp D, Rademacher C, Linhares D. Collecting oral fluid samples from due-to-wean litters. Prev Vet Med. 2020 Jan. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.prevetmed.2019.104810
Half-Life of African Swine Fever Virus in Shipped Feed
African swine fever virus is transmissible through animal consumption of contaminated feed. To determine virus survival during transoceanic shipping, we calculated the half-life of the virus in 9 feed ingredients exposed to 30-day shipment conditions. Half-lives ranged from 9.6 to 14.2 days, indicating that the feed matrix environment promotes virus stability. Stoian A, Zimmerman J, Ji J, Hefley T, Dee S, Diel D, Rowland R, Niederwerder M. Half-life of African swine fever virus in shipped feed. Emerg Infect Dis. 2019 Dec. https://dx.doi.org/10.3201/eid2512.191002