For the average person, packages of pork products in the grocery store meat section represent ingredients for a meal.
For the Swine Disease Eradication Center (SDEC) at the University of Minnesota College of Veterinary Medicine (CVM), those products represent the culmination of years of productive partnerships between academia and the swine industry that have advanced research into eliminating deadly diseases that cost pork producers billions of dollars each year.
“We’re all working together to make sure that the pork chop on your plate is going to be safe, nutritious and affordable,” says Maria Pieters, co-director of the SDEC and an associate professor at CVM. “But there is so much that happens behind the scenes to ensure that. We as veterinarians are constantly working with our industry partners to improve swine health and production.”
Since 2001, the center has facilitated research projects that have increased knowledge around the transmission, control and elimination of swine diseases that cost pork producers billions of dollars each year.
“What we do is for the good of the pig, the welfare of the pig, and the people that care for them,” says Mark Schwartz, SDEC co-director, CVM assistant professor and director of innovation and production optimization for Schwartz Farms. “Healthier pigs allow their caretakers to be more effective in their jobs. That translates to even better animal welfare and improves production across the spectrum, including in terms of efficiency and affordability.”
For 25 years, the SDEC has collaborated with industry partners to prioritize research efforts and gain a better understanding of swine diseases and their transmission, and to use that knowledge to develop protocols for curtailing their spread and diminishing their impact on production.
“We’re working hand-in-hand with the industry and with the veterinarians in the field to understand what their questions or concerns are and then generating that information through our research investigations,” Pieters says.
As part of this work, the center responds to the changing environment for a more sustainable and accountable model to conduct research with greater responsiveness to emerging issues and accountability to industry partners. Each year, members of the SDEC team meet with industry representatives, including a gathering at the Allen D. Leman Swine Conference, to discuss ongoing issues regarding disease and establish research priorities for the upcoming year.
The center also produces a podcast, “Processing the Litter-ature,” during which the findings of peer-reviewed papers are supplemented with a field perspective through discussions with faculty and industry guests.
The need for the center arose at a time when the industry sought field-applicable information to help them advance disease elimination and control programs. Rising to meet this need was Carlos Pijoan, a professor and prolific researcher in the field of swine respiratory disease.
“At the time, Dr. Pijoan was engaged in communications with industry leaders to eliminate pathogens and realized that there was a huge knowledge gap in terms of understanding the transmission of those pathogens and what biosecurity measures would help prevent their transmission to support the elimination projects,” says Montserrat Torremorell, chair of the CVM Department of Veterinary Population Medicine.
Pijoan partnered with former faculty member and CVM alum Scott Dee and other University of Minnesota Swine Group members to launch the SDEC, with a mission of serving as a research and extension center that addresses one of the main issues in swine production, which is the control and eventual elimination of diseases that affect swine productivity or that constitute potential risks for humans.
This unique cooperation has led to progress across numerous fronts. Recent projects include investigating how quickly after infection pigs may shed airborne pathogens, understanding interactions of porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS) virus with its host and the environment and quantifying biosecurity risks.
Pieters says that small projects within SDEC often build upon one another and lead to bigger initiatives with more partners and funding resources—and greater impact. An example is the research on mycoplasma conducted over the years, which has served as the foundation to embark on industrywide disease elimination projects, such as the Minnesota Mycoplasma task force.
“The work done over the last 25 years has brought us here, and we are on the path of eradication for several diseases,” Pieters says. “There is so much more to be done, but our continued partnerships give us the ability and agility to tackle the industry’s most pressing issues.”
The article was originally published in the University of Minnesota College of Veterinary Medicine’s publication Profiles.