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Small Pests, Bigger Threats: Flies and Gnats Spread Swine Rotaviruses and Sapovirus

Annoying. Bothersome. Irritating. Inconvenience. Pest. No matter how you describe Musca domestica, aka the house fly, and its friend the gnat, one thing's for sure - they are a nuisance and pose a threat to your swine herd.

Everyone knows the small stature of flies and gnats and their ability to fly allows them to easily enter and exit barns and vehicles while bringing with them viral, bacterial and parasitic pathogens. For the first time ever, a study led by Allison Knox of the Walcott Veterinary Clinic in Walcott, Iowa, shows the ability of house flies and gnats to transmit rotavirus and sapovirus in swine nurseries.

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You Never Want to Find This in a Feed Bin

Video: You Never Want to Find This in a Feed Bin



We found something in bin 12 that no pig farmer ever wants to see. Feed caked up solid in the boot, and when that line is feeding thousands of hogs, you fix it today, not tomorrow. That is just where the day starts. The pigs worked half the gates loose again, so Tork and I are going pen to pen putting them back together. Then it is the barn door repair, rebuilding the wash room, and a walk through a freshly washed barn getting ready for the next group. Pig farming is fixing the same things over and over and keeping the barns running no matter what.