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 22nd 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.
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 16 at the annual Allen D. Leman Swine Conference in St. Paul, MN.
All North American veterinary students with an interest in swine health and production were eligible. Talbert’’s presentation on creating a prototype device for making fumigation practices more efficient persuaded reviewers to award him the Prize.
Veterinary students: Are you shadowing a swine practitioner this summer or have you been involved in an interesting clinical case investigation? Did you work on your veterinary skills by designing a differential diagnosis list or working on a treatment plan? Did you investigate a problem by analyzing production records? Share your work at the Allen D. Leman Swine Conference to win the Morrison Swine Innovator Prize!
Attending the Leman Conference is a great opportunity for veterinary students who want to network with industry leaders. Submissions to enter in the selection to present at the DVM student session at the Leman Conference should be uploaded at z.umn.edu/MSIP by August 15th at the end of the day.
If you have any questions, please contact Dr. Perle Zhitnitskiy at pboyer@umn.edu. For more information about the Morrison Swine Innovator Prize visit z.umn.edu/MSIP.
Veterinary students: Are you shadowing a swine practitioner this summer or have you been involved in an interesting clinical case investigation? Did you work on your veterinary skills by designing a differential diagnosis list or working on a treatment plan? Did you investigate a problem by analyzing production records? Share your work at the Allen D. Leman Swine Conference to win the Morrison Swine Innovator Prize!
Attending the Leman Conference is a great opportunity for veterinary students who want to network with industry leaders. Submissions to enter in the selection to present at the DVM student session at the Leman Conference should be uploaded at z.umn.edu/MSIP by August 15th at the end of the day.
If you have any questions, please contact Dr. Perle Boyer at pboyer@umn.edu. For more information about the Morrison Swine Innovator Prize visit z.umn.edu/MSIP.
We hope you all had a great Thanksgiving! An ever increasing amount of you is visiting this blog every month so thank you, we appreciate your support!
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.
Monitoring cab cleaning and hot shot handle cleaning via Glo Germ Gel is simple and cost-effective.
Wiping down the cab interior with intervention wipes only adds around 5 minutes. These minor cost and time additions to truck wash procedures can help to prevent a million-dollar PRRS break.
Truck wash crew and trailer washers are often overlooked but perform a job that is essential in maintaining biosecurity and disease outbreak and therefore herd health.
The objective of this study was to assess overall biosecurity at the truck wash and identify potential areas of concern, measure and evaluate these areas of concern, and suggest solutions.
Potential Areas of Concern Identified
Cab Cleaning
Glo Germ Gel under a UV light when the door handle was not cleaned (left) and was wiped down (right).
The areas observed for cleaning included: steering wheel, dash, handles, climate control buttons, and radio. These areas were not being focused on; but are critical areas touched each time a driver is in the cab. In addition, it was difficult for monitors to tell if a cab had been cleaned or not by visual inspection alone.
Equipment Movement
After the three-day observation period, it became apparent that all equipment besides hot shots stayed in the dryers. Thus, hot shots were identified as the main equipment of concern. They were not returning with each trailer load, leading to biosecurity concerns.
Monitor Movement
Monitors inspect both PRRS positive and PRRS negative trailers throughout the day, before the wash crew is allowed to disinfect each trailer. Although monitors change boots and put on Tyvek before inspecting negative trailers, there is no true clean / dirty line where they change shoes.
Evaluation
Cab Cleaning
Steering wheel, dash, door handle, climate control buttons, and radio control buttons were evaluated on how well they were cleaned with a Glo Germ Gel product. The Glo Germ Gel was applied while the trucks were waiting in line to be cleaned. The assessment was performed using an UV light for any trace of the Glo Germ, indicating whether the surface had or had not been cleaned. The interior of cabs were not being cleaned as well as possible as evidenced by the amount of fluorescence that was detected in those five critical areas.
Equipment Movement
All of the hot shot handles and prods were numbered in both the PRRS positive and PRRS negative equipment sheds on a Sunday. Every night for the next five days it was checked if each hot shot was present, which equipment shed it was in, and new ones were numbered as they appeared. Throughout the course of those five days hot shot handles and prods were not being returned on a consistent basis. However, the equipment was not switched between the PRRS positive and PRRS negative sheds.
Monitor Movement
Glo Germ Gel and Powder was applied to the shoes of monitors and on positive trailers before monitors inspected them. Although no Glo Germ was appreciated in the PRRS negative areas, it may still be a potential area of concern and should be further evaluated.
Interventions
Cab Cleaning
In order to ensure that the interior of cabs were being cleaned as well as possible,the truck wash crew was shown images of the cab interiors with the Glo Germ Gel comparing interiors that were wiped down and those that were not. Current protocols could be clarified, and the importance of cab cleaning should be emphasized. Glo Germ Gel also gives the monitors the ability to do random internal audits of cab cleaning.
Equipment Movement
In order to check hot shot handle and prod cleanliness Glo Germ can be applied at the same time monitors put Glo Germ in the cabs. To encourage returning hot shots the truck wash crew can continue to write down cull and gilt trailers that do not return with a hotshot. To stop any potential cross-contamination, the PRRS-positive hot shots could be painted red.
Monitor Movement
Although no Glo Germ was appreciated it is possible that monitor movement is still a potential biosecurity risk and should be further evaluated. It appears that the Glo Germ washed right off as the trailers were wet when the monitors inspected them.
