Swine Health - Foreign Animal Disease
Participatory regional surveillance to establish regional FAD status within the U.S. and improve swine movement decisions
September 1, 2025By Jeffrey Zimmerman
The extensive movement of animals, personnel, and materials facilitates the spread of infectious agents within and between countries, e.g., PEDV, ASFV, and others. Thus, an effective national surveillance system is crucial to the early detection, control, and elimination of notifiable pathogens.
Swine Health
Active environmental surveillance for swine pathogens using continuous sampling
February 24, 2025By Jeff Zimmerman
The long-term goal of this project is to develop a practical, cost-effective, active on-farm environmental surveillance system for swine pathogens based on continuous passive sampling. In brief, this would be achieved by placing "passive samplers" in swine production facilities and then periodically collecting and testing the samplers for targeted pathogens.
Animal Well-being - Euthanasia
How Can Euthanasia Training Modules Based on the DiSC® Personality Test Reduce Caretaker Euthanasia-related train?
December 1, 2023By Anna Johnson
The objective of this study was to determine if a tailored swine euthanasia training tool based on the Predictive Index (PI) Behavioral Assessment improves caretaker euthanasia attitudes, perceptions, and supports improved caretaker mental welfare.
Pork Quality
Using Clean Label, Natural Antioxidants to Prevent Lipid Oxidation in Frozen, Food-Service Bacon Made from Bellies with Three Iodine Value Ranges
August 2, 2023By Terry Houser
This study confirms previous research that bacon is highly susceptible to lipid deterioration when using an oxygen permeable food-service packaging format and frozen storage conditions.
Other
An Updated Economic Assessment of New Swine Gestation Facility Investment
July 31, 2023By Dr. Lee L. Schulz
The overriding objective of this study is to conduct, within the limitations of current knowledge, an economic analysis of investing in new gestation housing facilities for a farrow to wean operation. There is still much that is not known about increasing the square feet per sow in group housing. This holds at least as much for the costs as it does for the productivity impacts. Hence, the assessment to be presented here is more demonstrative than definitive. Still, using available data, the analysis employs a detailed and transparent method to assess new facility investment alternatives.
Swine Health - General Disease
Investigation into the Epidemiology of Disease-Associated S. Suis Strains
March 4, 2023By Maria Jose Clavijo
Disease-associated Streptococcus suis (DASS) is one of the most impacting bacterial diseases in swine worldwide. A key aspect to the control and prevention of DASS in swine farms hinges upon accurate...
Animal Science
SNORT: Swine Nutritional Observation and Routing Technology
March 4, 2023By Joshua Peschel
This project developed SNORT (Swine Nutritional Observation and Routing Technology), a software application that leverages innovations in visual sensemaking for in situ detection, tracking, and...
Swine Health - General Disease
Swine Disease Management Information Program
March 4, 2023By Giovani Trevisan
This study combined epidemiological tools and concepts to structure and compare aspects and practices implemented in breeding herds following disease outbreaks. This project used porcine reproductive...
Swine Health
Practical strategies for improving swine oral fluid PCR performance
August 27, 2022By J Zimmerman
The goal of this current research was to identify practical methods to improve the detection of PRRSV, IAV-S, and Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae (MHP) nucleic acids in swine oral fluids by evaluating sample treatments reported to achieve improved nucleic acid detection.
Swine Health - General Disease
Attempts to Broaden Cross-Protective Immunity Against Swine Influenza Viruses
July 11, 2022By Kyoung-Jin Yoon
Swine influenza is an economic burden to pig producers due to decreased feed consumption, weight loss, and increased death loss that often occurs from secondary bacterial infections. In addition,...