SHIC Shares Information With Swine Veterinarians At AASV Annual Meeting

The Swine Health Information Center continues to share information on its strategic priorities and mission to protect the health of the US swine herd with veterinarians and pork producers. During the recent American Association of Swine Veterinarians Annual Meeting, February 24-27 in Nashville, Tennessee, over 1000 attendees had the opportunity to learn about SHIC’s work through session presentations, committee participation, and a tech table display.

As part of the pre-conference committee meetings, SHIC Executive Director Dr. Megan Niederwerder and SHIC Associate Director Dr. Lisa Becton presented SHIC’s 2024 Plan of Work and Requests for Proposals on research priorities to the Committee on Transboundary and Emerging Diseases. Both Drs. Niederwerder and Becton attended the pre-conference session on biosecurity and participated in the SDRS advisory group meeting where new information about this SHIC-funded disease monitoring report was shared.

During AASV’s special session, “Beagles and Bagels,” Dr. Niederwerder presented the latest information on Japanese encephalitis virus, including the current JEV status in Australia, the availability of JEV testing at National Veterinary Service Laboratories, progress on the updated USDA response strategy, the SHIC/FFAR JEV Research Program, and updates on the risk and potential impact that JEV poses to the US pork industry. She also updated attendees about SHIC research activities on emerging diseases and collaborative partnerships with the other pork industry organizations at the AASV annual business meeting.

The results of SHIC-funded research and programs were featured in several seminars, on research posters, and during presentations, including in the general session. A tech table display featured SHIC projects and tools for communicating the research results to help keep the US swine herd safe and stay ahead of economically devastating health issues. Interactions with AASV participants were instrumental in furthering SHIC’s outreach and expanding the network for SHIC as a resource to help herd veterinarians, pork producers, and researchers work on emerging swine diseases.