Swine Farms Vary In Their Risk From Endemic PED

Feb 18, 2022

The researchers analyzed data on PED surveillance collected July 2014-June 2021 from 1,100 breeding farms in 27 states. The data came from the Morrison Swine Health Monitoring Project at the University of Minnesota, and the researchers identified 625 outbreaks at 373 farms during that time.

Kimberly VanderWaal, PhD, who is one of the article authors and an associate professor in the University of Minnesota Department of Veterinary Population Medicine, said the project tracks PED in about half the U.S. swine breeding population, and about 7% of those sow farms have a PED outbreak in a typical year. The regions with low incidence could move toward eliminating the virus with a concerted industry effort, she said.

Dr. VanderWaal said the research team also has found that, on average, a typical sow farm would have an outbreak about once every 10 years, down from once in 2.5 years early in the virus’s emergence in the U.S.

The Swine Health Information Center funded the research. Dr. Paul Sundberg, executive director of the SHIC, said the biosecurity measures to keep PED off farms are well known.

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Video: 2026 T.K. Cheung Lecture in Animal Science - Dan Weary

T.K. Cheung Lecture in Animal Science: "Using science to assess and improve the welfare of dairy cattle"

Dan Weary is a Professor at the University of British Columbia. Dan did his BSc and MSc at McGill and Doctorate at Oxford before co-founding UBC’s Animal Welfare Program where he now co-directs this active research group. His research focuses on understanding the perspectives of animals and applying these insights to develop methods of assessing animal welfare and improving the lives of animals. His work has helped drive changes in practices (including the adoption of higher milk rations for calves and pain management for disbudding) and housing methods (including the adoption of social housing for pre-weaned calves). He also studies cow comfort and lameness, social interactions among cows, and interactions between cows, human handlers and technologies like automated millking systems that are increasingly used on farms. His presentation will outline key questions in cattle welfare, highlight recent UBC research addressing them, and showcase innovative methods for improving the lives of cattle and their caretakers.