Swine in Minnesota

Detecting PRRS and influenza A viruses from swine farm air filters

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.

This week, we are sharing a new publication from Dr. Montse Torremorell’s lab investigating if RNA viruses such as PRRSv and influenza virus could be detected from used filters in commercial swine herds.

Key Points

Little is known about the type and nature of viruses that get trapped in commercial filters on swine farms due to a lack of sampling methods.
The first part of this study established effective methods for eluting and identifying PRRS and IAV viruses in MERV filters under lab conditions.
The second part of the study tested the verified method on used filters from swine farms, verifying the presence of both PRRS and IAV

Susceptibility of swine cells and domestic pigs to SARS-CoV-2

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.

Dr. Meekins and his team shared their latest results regarding how susceptible domestic pigs and cultured swine cells are to SARS-CoV2.

Key points

Cultured swine cells are susceptible to SARS-CoV-2, but domestic pigs are resistant to infection.
Pigs are unlikely to be carriers of SARS-CoV-2 or relevant pre-clinical animal models for the development of COVID-19 vaccines or therapeutics.

The 2020 Allen D. Leman Swine Conference made a successful switch to online delivery

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the decision was made to deliver the 2020 Allen D. Leman swine conference online and the University of Minnesota swine group rose to the challenge. Continuing its tradition of excellent, science-driven presentations, the program blended in recorded talks and live presentations while maintaining interactions with the speakers through a dynamic chat feature.

Describing vehicle movement patterns within a production system in the Midwest – Part 2

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.

This is the second part of the project presented to you last week. The MSHMP team developed a method to track vehicle movement patterns in a system.

Key Points:

Twelve vehicles transporting weanling pigs and culled sows can interconnect a third of the premises within a Midwest swine system of more than 300 farms.
The system is highly inter-connected, with three identified clusters (“communities”)
Each farm can be reached (after passing) through 3 farms within the system-network.

U of Illinois Student Wins Morrison Swine Innovator Prize… Again!

For the second year in a row, University of Illinois veterinary student Zack Talbert has received the Morrison Swine Innovator Prize, an award given to veterinary students who want to specialize in swine medicine. The award was presented September 22^nd at the annual Allen D. Leman Swine Conference.

All North American veterinary students with an interest in swine health and production were eligible. Talbert’s presentation on testing the performance of a fumigation box designed to improve the removal of pathogens from objects entering a swine barn, persuaded reviewers to award him the Prize. Talbert won in 2019 for inventing the Bio-Barrier 360.