JEV Literature Review Sheds New Light on the Risks of Transmission and Establishment in North America

Aug 28, 2023

Kansas State University has completed a literature review of Japanese encephalitis.Japanese encephalitis, a viral infection concentrated in southeast Asia which affects multiple species including pigs and humans, was identified in 2022 in Australia.

In an effort to learn more about the biology, components and dynamics of transmission and environmental factors necessary for incursion and establishment of the infection, Kansas State University with funding from the Swine Health Information Center conducted a systematic literature review.SHIC Executive Director Dr. Paul Sundberg says the review will be used to assist in an ongoing assessment of the risk of establishment of JEV in North America.

Quote-Dr. Paul Sundberg-Swine Health Information Center:

For pigs it is primarily a reproductive disease-causing extended gestation and abortions.It can be devastating to a specific farm that has a JEV outbreak.
It can cause production losses for months if it goes through the whole farm.Interestingly in Australia we've seen that some farms are highly affected with large losses and other farms may have an infection or two and that would be it.

The literature review looked at those types of production losses, it looked at the diagnostics that are available and it looked at reported on vaccine status.
Vaccine is probably one of the most effective measures for controlling JEV.It's been used in Japan for a long time, routinely vaccinating pigs in Japan.
Those are the kind of general topics that we were looking at.

We were looking at epidemiology, at diagnostics, at risk factors, at vaccination and vaccines so we make sure that we could understand and inform our risk assessment about those issues.

Dr. Sundberg says information gathered through the literature review will support the development of policies and response plans for JEV.

Source : Farmscape.ca

Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.