Are You Ready for Foreign Animal Disease?

Jun 14, 2022

Patrick Webb, DVM, Assistant Chief Veterinarian, National Pork Board provides advice to keep swine herds safe from foreign diseases.

By Patrick Webb, DVM, Assistant Chief Veterinarian, National Pork Board

If you’re a pork producer in 2022, you’re well aware of ongoing issues and challenges that face your operation and your industry. Unfortunately, one of these is the constant threat of foreign animal diseases (FADs) such as African Swine Fever (ASF).

Today, ASF is as close to the United States as the island nations of the Dominican Republic and Haiti—both just one short boat or plane ride from our mainland. This brings the FAD threat much closer than it’s been in over 40 years and makes a recent Iowa State University study’s conclusion more frightening.

It calculated the hypothetical impact from an ASF outbreak to be as costly as $50 billion to the US pork industry if not controlled for 10 years.

It’s About Reducing Risk

Everyone can help protect our national herd from FAD by enhancing their own farm’s biosecurity plan.

To read the Full Article as it appeared in our Benchmark swine magazine, click HERE.

Video: Intrauterine Vaccines in Swine - Dr. Heather Wilson

In this episode of The Swine it Podcast Show Canada, Dr. Heather Wilson from VIDO at the University of Saskatchewan explains how intrauterine vaccination is being developed as a new option for swine health. She shares how formulation, adjuvants, and delivery methods influence immune responses and what early trials reveal about safety and reproductive performance. Listen now on all major platforms.

"The idea was that an intrauterine vaccine might avoid a tolerance response and instead create an active immune response."

Meet the guest: Dr. Heather Wilson / heather-wilson-a8043641 is a Senior Scientist and Program Manager at the Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization at the University of Saskatchewan. Her work centers on vaccine formulation and delivery in pigs, including the development of intrauterine vaccination to support reproductive health and passive protection of piglets. Her background spans biochemistry, immunology, and functional pathogenomics.