umn – Page 6 – Swine in Minnesota

PRRSV variants under monitoring

Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus is a major threat to pig production worldwide. The virus is constantly changing, with new variants appearing every year. Some of these new variants can spread more easily or have a greater impact on your herd’s health and productivity. An example is the emergence of a new PRRSV variant named 1C.5 (previously referred to as L1C 1-4-4, or 1-4-4) in late 2020. In the past, monitoring systems have had a difficulty identifying new variants like this quickly enough to allow for a rapid response, and they often focused on describing epidemics that had already happened.

Assessment of PRRSV 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.

In today’s Science Page, University of Minnesota researchers Lucas Ferreira, Mark Schwartz, Marie Culhane, and Cesar A Corzo share preliminary findings from their study on transport biosecurity.

The impact of pooling on the observed microbiome profile of preweaned piglet feces

Today, we are sharing a recent publication from the Noyes lab investigating a very popular sampling technique, pooling and the impact it has on resulting microbiome profiles. The article is available in open access on Microbiology Ecology’s website.

Help Piglets Thrive: High-Dose Oxytocin Allows Sows to Pass on Greater Immunity

The following article was written by Jennifer Shike and published in Farm Journal’s magazine, PORK.

Colostrum can be the difference between life and death for a piglet. As litter size increases, colostrum intake becomes even more critical, says Bryn Anderson, a veterinary student at the University of Minnesota College of Veterinary Medicine.

First time win: A University of Minnesota student takes the Morrison Swine Innovator Prize

*2025 Morrison Swine Innovator Prize winner Kaydance Hinn (right) and Dr. Perle Zhitnitskiy, CVM professor and coordinator of the competition.*

St. Paul, Minn.—Kaydance Hinn, a first-year student at the University of Minnesota College of Veterinary Medicine, received the 2025 Morrison Swine Innovator Prize, an award given to veterinary students who want to make a difference in swine health and production.