SHIC Funds Regional Swine Disease Warning Tool Development and Testing

Oct 23, 2023

With funding provided by SHIC, the Morrison Swine Health Monitoring Project team at the University of Minnesota developed and tested a tool to enable timely communication of regional disease activity, The Early Regional Occurrence Warning (TEROW) project. TEROW represents additional infrastructure to respond to emerging diseases and highlights efforts towards preparedness, as it can be utilized for a wide range of diseases with the application of standardized monitoring through MSHMP.

Using porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome in the beta testing, principal investigator Mariana Kukuti and her team developed a code to retrieve and summarize, for each enrolled site, the total number of sites within a 25(+)-mile radius experiencing an ongoing PRRS outbreak, as well as a trend indicator to show if the number of cases increased or decreased from the previous week.

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Video: PRRS Eradication Strategies - Dr. DeBuse and Dr. Tousignant

In this episode of The Swine it Podcast Show, Dr. Neil DeBuse from Kalmbach Feeds and Dr. Steve Tousignant from Vaxxinova US discuss PRRS management strategies, recombination risks, whole genome sequencing, and the role of autogenous immunization programs in swine systems. They highlight practical approaches to improving immunity, reducing outbreaks, and advancing PRRS control across production systems. Listen now on all major platforms!

"Being PRRS negative sooner is a real key for eradication because every additional positive week increases production losses and viral exposure risks." - Dr. Neil DeBuse

Meet the guest: Dr. Neil DeBuse is a veterinarian at Kalmbach Feeds with more than 30 years of experience in swine health and production. His work focuses on PRRS control, biosecurity, immunity, and improving production stability across commercial swine systems in the United States and internationally.

Dr. Steve Tousignant is Director of the Swine Business Unit and Technical Services Veterinarian at Vaxxinova US, with a DVM and PhD from the University of Minnesota. His experience combines epidemiology, technical services, and practical immunization strategies designed to support consistent herd performance and long-term production stability. Don’t miss the chance to be part of the Swine Inner Circle!