Farmscape for October 30, 2024

Two research projects approved through the Swine Health Information Center's Wean-to-Harvest Biosecurity Research Program will focus on reducing the risk of swine transport vehicle contamination at hog processing plants and at deadstock disposal sites.
The Swine Health Information Center’s Wean-to-Harvest Biosecurity Research Program, funded in collaboration with the Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research and Pork Checkoff, has approved funding for research intended to help improve transport vehicle biosecurity where the transport trailer interfaces with the harvest facility and at the deadstock disposal site.
SHIC Associate Director Dr. Lisa Becton says two projects will be conducted by the University of Minnesota.

Quote-Dr. Lisa Becton-Swine Health Information Center:
The first project is quantifying trailer contamination rates at the harvest plant interface.
The goal of this project is to gather and analyze data on viral contamination rates in trailers and this will be looking at a 12-month period over time at the plant interface.
It's going to assess the rates of PED, PRRS and Senaca Valey Virus and the goal is to understand what are the epidemiology factors related to trailers and unloading for the ability to either increase or decrease contamination rates, to understand what happens at that interface and then determine what are things that we can do to mitigate those risks.
The second project is going to be assessing viral contamination of mortality disposal structures at wean to harvest farms.
It's going to describe what the current procedures are for disposal and assess viral contamination in the environment around those containers but also to assess what is happening at these disposal structures such as compost and dead box and to detect and test what could be a decontamination strategy.
Again, the goal is to help identify risks and to develop a strategy to mitigate those risks.

Dr. Becton says the two projects will be conducted over a 12 month span to take into account seasonal changes and how those changes can drive the risk of disease introduction.
Information on this work can be found at swinehealth.org.
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Bruce Cochrane.

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