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The Swine Health Information Center, funded and initiated by the Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research and the Swine Control Law, is conducting a two-year, $2.3 million Wean-to-Harvest Biosecurity Research Program. The aim of this program is to enhance biosecurity throughout the swine production stages from weaning to harvest by exploring cost-effective, innovative technologies, protocols, and ideas. The results obtained thus far present immediate opportunities for U.S. pig farmers to improve their biosecurity protocols.

The Wean-to-Harvest Biosecurity Research Program has been developed to investigate research priorities across three areas: bio-exclusion (keeping disease out of the farm), bio-containment (keeping disease on the farm after it has been introduced to mitigate risks to neighboring farms), and transport biosecurity (innovative ways to prevent the return of pathogens to the farm through live transport, disposal methods, markets, dead animals, and feed transport from markets and concentration points). To date, a total of 18 projects have been funded through this program to support a comprehensive approach to safeguarding biosecurity and swine health on U.S. farms. Enhancing biosecurity from weaning to harvest will help control potential diseases within the U.S. swine industry in the future.

So far, it has been reported that the 18 funded projects completed have provided producers and veterinarians with knowledge and tools applicable to today’s farms and swine production. This research program reflects collaborative efforts to enhance the response capability of the Swine Health Information Center (SHIC) in dealing with identified vulnerabilities in swine health and in securing producer support funds to maintain the health of the U.S. swine herd.

Transport Biosecurity

Transport remains a concern for disease spread during weaning, harvest, and other production stages. Key highlights from completed projects include:

• An updated inventory of truck wash facilities in major swine production states is now available for producers and can be found at https://www.ipic.iastate.edu/truckwash.html.

• Tools are available for producers to automatically track travel between vehicles and log sanitation status based on truck wash visits, including GPS-based tracking and the CleanTrailer app.

• The cleanliness of live animal transport trailers can be objectively measured using ATP swabs and ATP luminometers (more ATP = higher potential microbial contamination) to determine hygiene status after a commercial truck wash.

• Areas least likely to be adequately cleaned after a commercial truck wash include the nose access gate and rear door rinse lane. These areas may be targeted for on-site testing or additional cleaning.

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Source: Tarım Haberleri