New Biosecurity Resource Helps Producers Protect Pigs

$50 billion. That's the estimated economic impact over 10 years if African swine fever finds its way into the United States, according to the USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS).

And the threat is not limited to foreign animal diseases. High costs from endemic diseases, such as porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome, also plague health and productivity on U.S. swine farms.

Developing a biosecurity plan and training farm employees on biosecurity practices are necessary steps to prevent high-consequence pathogens like these from entering and affecting swine farms. Now a "one-stop shop" for the information and resources pork producers need for their on-farm biosecurity program can be found at a website created at the University of Illinois College of Veterinary Medicine.

"They say 'what you don't coach, you condone,' and biosecurity is certainly not something the swine industry can afford to condone," said Dr. Isha Agrawal, a doctoral student in the lab of Dr. Csaba Varga who led the development of the website.