Category Archives: Animal Health

For the first time in the US, highly pathogenic avian influenza has been identified in domestic livestock including goats and dairy cattle. To understand the threat HPAI poses to domestic livestock species, and to inform producers on actions that can be taken to reduce the risk of infection on-farm, the Swine Health Information Center in collaboration with the American Association of Swine Veterinarians will host a webinar on influenza A viruses on Friday, April 19, 2024, from 11:00 am to 12:30 pm CST.

The American Association of Bovine Practitioners released a letter describing how the organization will reference the emerging cattle disease moving forward:

For the first time in the US, highly pathogenic avian influenza has been identified in domestic livestock including goats and dairy cattle. To understand the threat HPAI poses to domestic livestock species, and to inform producers on actions that can be taken to reduce the risk of infection on-farm, the Swine Health Information Center in collaboration with the American Association of Swine Veterinarians will host a webinar on influenza A viruses on Friday, April 19, 2024, from 11:00 am to 12:30 pm CST.

For the first time in the US, highly pathogenic avian influenza has been identified in domestic livestock including goats and dairy cattle. To understand the threat HPAI poses to domestic livestock species, and to inform producers on actions that can be taken to reduce the risk of infection on-farm, the Swine Health Information Center in collaboration with the American Association of Swine Veterinarians will host a webinar on influenza A viruses on Friday, April 19, 2024, from 11:00 am to 12:30 pm CST.

A project funded by the Swine Health Information Center focusing on the role of vehicle movement in swine disease dissemination has recently been published in the Journal of Preventive Veterinary Medicine. Principal investigators Drs. Gustavo Machado and Jason Galvis, North Carolina State University, studied a novel method to analyze the role of vehicle movement in swine disease spread by accounting for the variability around pathogen stability and vehicle cleaning effectiveness. Specifically, the study investigated the moving vehicle’s role in disease spread from farm to farm by considering 1) the factors that may affect the pathogen stability on the contaminated vehicle and 2) the efficacy of the procedure to clean and disinfect the contaminated vehicle.

The Swine Health Information Center’s (SHIC) April Domestic Swine Disease Monitoring Report is available.

In the eighth annual report to the Swine Health Information Center, which provides the primary funding for its work, Morrison Swine Health Monitoring Project leader Dr. Cesar Corzo of the University of Minnesota detailed project outcomes for its three primary objectives. MSHMP monitors trends in pathogens incidence and prevalence, conducts prospective monitoring of PRRSV sequence evolution and impact, and expands participation of producers to increase relevance and deliverables to the swine industry.

Japanese encephalitis virus, a transboundary emerging disease risk for US introduction, carries with it potential economic implications greater than $500 million per a recent economic assessment white paper (Cook et al., 2024). Transmitted by the bite of infected mosquitos, JEV can cause severe disease in pigs, horses, and humans. While historically endemic to Asian and western Pacific regions, the 2022 JEV outbreak in Australia raised concerns of a renewed threat to the US pig industry and public health.

Global swine disease monitoring identified Japanese encephalitis virus, a transboundary disease transmitted by Culex mosquitos, as an emerging threat to the US swine industry. The 2022 JEV outbreak in Australia heightened the need to define the risk this virus poses to US pork production, informing prevention, preparedness, and response efforts. In 2022, the Swine Health Information Center funded a study led by Dr. Natalia Cernicchiaro, Kansas State University, in collaboration with researchers at the USDA ARS Foreign Arthropod-borne Animal Diseases Research Unit, to update her group’s 2018 qualitative assessment estimating the risk of JEV emergence and subsequent transmission in the continental US. Incorporating the latest scientific information and elements into the new study, the updated semi-quantitative assessment evaluated the risk of JEV introduction into seven US regions, its subsequent spread, and economic impact. Study results found the overall risk, reflecting the rate of introduction and economic impact of a JEV incursion, was non-negligible for the south, west, midwest, and northeast regions.

There has been a recent disease event in dairy cattle with reports of affected herds in several states. Samples submitted from dairy cattle affected with the current disease outbreak were recently confirmed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to have highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI). It is too soon to predict if all of the recent reports of unexplained illnesses in dairy cattle in the U.S. are due to HPAI. Veterinarians and the dairy industry are working collaboratively with state and federal officials during the ongoing investigation.