Mosquito season is almost here, is your swine farm ready?

May 05, 2025

As the U.S. anticipates the annual surge in mosquito populations, pork producers are urged to implement robust control strategies to reduce mosquito populations near swine farms and minimize potential production impacts. Changes in environmental conditions, specifically during high rainfall seasons, may result in increased mosquito populations that can be a risk for emerging disease and other swine production challenges. Through global disease monitoring by the Swine Health Information Center, heightened awareness for mosquito control stems from the recent 2025 re-emergence of Japanese encephalitis virus in Australia, a stark reminder of the potential impact of this mosquito-borne pathogen.

In February 2025, JEV was reported at two piggeries in southern Queensland, Australia, marking the first detections of the virus in AU commercial swine since July 2022. With no cases detected in piggeries during 2023 or 2024, this re-incursion of JEV into Australian piggeries requires close monitoring. Recent detections in mosquito populations in Goondiwindi, Inglewood, and Monto, as well as in mosquito and feral pig populations in New South Wales, have raised concerns about further potential spread of JEV, particularly with wet season conditions increasing mosquito activity.
The U.S. is currently negative for JEV, a mosquito-borne virus which has waterbirds as a natural reservoir host but is capable of infecting pigs, humans and horses. As a transboundary disease risk for U.S. introduction, JEV is transmitted through the bite of infected mosquitos and can cause reproductive failure, delayed farrowing, stillbirths, mummified fetuses, abortions and weak piglets in swine breeding herds. In December 2024, SHIC, along with the Foundation for Food & Agriculture Research, funded six research projects to enhance U.S. prevention, preparedness, mitigation and response capabilities for JEV.

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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.