Swine in Minnesota

Best of Leman: Mark Schwartz – Airborne biosecurity: Comparison of air filtration and an electrostatic precipitator technology

This is our most popular series on the blog. Once a month, we are sharing with you a presentation given at the Allen D. Leman swine conference, on topics that the swine group found interesting, innovative or that lead to great discussions.

You can find all of the presentations selected from previous conferences on the blog here.

This presentation was given by Mark Schwartz of the University of Minnesota and Schwartz Farms during the 2025 Allen D. Leman Swine Conference.

Assessment of PEDV Trailer Contamination at the Harvest Facility

This is our Friday rubric: every week a new Science Page from the Bob Morrison’s Swine Health Monitoring Project. The previous editions of the science page are available on our website.

Researchers Lucas Ferreira, Mark Schwartz, Marie Culhane, and Cesar A Corzo from the University of Minnesota bring us today’s Science Page, looking at PEDv contamination of trailers at the slaughter house.

Stopping the next outbreak: Identifying airborne swine viruses

A single particle of porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) is about 1,000 times smaller than the width of a strand of hair. It’s easy for the microscopic germs to move undetected through vast amounts of air, meaning costly viruses that infect swine are exceedingly difficult to detect.

PRRSV alone costs United States producers around $1.2 billion every year. Several swine diseases—including the influenza virus—can also transmit to humans.

“Stronger Biosecurity with Viability PCR” a podcast with Dr. Declan Schroeder

UMN Swine Group member Dr. Declan Schroeder was recently on Swine It podcast to explains how viability PCR improves virus detection in swine systems. He discusses how this molecular approach distinguishes intact virus particles from residual genetic material, helping evaluate biosecurity risks, feed contamination, and mitigation strategies. Dr. Schroeder also highlights how the method supports better decision-making in disease prevention.

Dr. Declan Schroeder is a Professor of Virology in the Department of Veterinary Population Medicine at the University of Minnesota. His research focuses on molecular virology, genomics, and virus detection across animal and environmental systems, including swine health challenges such as PRRSV, PEDV, and influenza. His work explores advanced diagnostic tools that improve virus detection and biosecurity decision-making in production systems.

Less Invasive Sampling Methods for PRRSV Detection in Exposed Gilts

Today, we are sharing a very recent publication from Dr. Mariana Kikuti in collaboration with the MSHMP team. Their project looked at the sensitivity of blood-soaked filter papers, blood-soaked swabs, oral swabs and tonsil oral scrubbings when compared to serum samples to detect PRRSV. The full manuscript is available in open-access on the journal’s website.