The Associate Director of the Swine Health Information Center says the monthly domestic swine disease monitoring report is helping swine producers and veterinarians keep on top of developing disease threats.
The Swine Health Information Center's monthly Domestic Swine Disease Monitoring Report, compiled by Iowa State University, uses diagnostic data from six veterinary diagnostic labs, accounting for approximately 96 percent of all cases submitted in the U.S.
The Swine Health Information Center has extended its financial support for the report through September and added E. coli monitoring.SHIC Associate Director Dr. Lisa Becton says when swine veterinary samples are submitted the information is funnelled into one system and is reported on an aggregate basis.
Quote-Dr. Lisa Becton-Swine Health Information Center:
Any veterinarians or producers that do submit samples do contribute to the process.Within the program though, no one is identified, the information is reported on a state level and only by the number of cases submitted.It is important because we can identify what age groups are affected, what diseases are being seen, is there a seasonality of when diseases are being seen as well as other information regarding the diseases that are being monitored.
For example, as we look at the PRRS virus, it does give us a very seasonal pattern of when infections are seen and when case positivity goes up or down.But it does also give people an idea and understanding of what type of viruses are being seen and this is very important because it does show a certain regionality of disease transmission and identification and that can be significantly different for example between the Midwest or the southeast.
Having this knowledge give producers and their veterinarians a way to be able to predict how to treat or manage their pigs when they're going to different systems and or, depending on the different risks they face, even in their own area.
SHIC's domestic and global swine disease monitoring reports can be accessed at swinehealth.org.
Source : Farmscape.ca