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SHIC Receives 57 Responses to 2025 Plan of Work Request for Research Proposals

By Abbey Canon

The Swine Health Information Center released its 2025 Plan of Work in January, outlining key priorities to protect the health of the US swine herd in the current year. The Plan of Work emphasizes a proactive approach to addressing emerging disease threats and enhancing biosecurity measures within the US swine industry. On March 5, 2025, SHIC issued a request for 2025 Plan of Work research proposals with a submission deadline of April 30, 2025. A record 57 proposals were received from 19 organizations (14 universities, one government entity, and four private companies). Proposals will undergo competitive review for funding recommendations based on value to US pork producers.

Research priorities and topics identified in the 2025 Plan of Work help SHIC fulfill its mission to generate new knowledge for preventing, preparing, mitigating and responding to emerging swine disease threats. Read the 2025 Plan of Work RFP here.

The 56 proposals are expected to address the specific research priorities described in the March RFP, including topics such as transport biosecurity, reduction of disease risk at the packing plant lairage and unloading docks, investigation of novel technologies for trailer sanitation, assessment of biosecurity risk for cull sow and secondary markets, identifying early disease outbreak warning signals, evaluation of wastewater as a surveillance tool, environmental sample types with low labor requirements for emerging disease surveillance, genome-based diagnostic technologies for emerging disease detection and forensic analysis, and investigating the clinical relevance of newly identified agents from veterinary diagnostic lab submissions.

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Swine Biosecurity: 5 Critical Steps to Prevent Disease Transmission | LANXESS

Video: Swine Biosecurity: 5 Critical Steps to Prevent Disease Transmission | LANXESS

Protecting herd health starts before anyone enters the barn. Every visitor, employee, piece of equipment and movement between farms can introduce disease risks if proper biosecurity protocols aren't followed.

In this SwineWeb Biosecurity Intelligence feature, Dr. Gisele Ravagnani of LANXESS Biosecurity Solutions explains practical steps pork producers can take to strengthen on-farm biosecurity and reduce the risk of disease transmission.

Key topics covered:

• Visitor Management: Why visitor logs, previous farm exposure and downtime requirements are essential.

• Controlled Barn Entry: How Danish entry systems establish a clear separation between clean and dirty areas.

• Shower-In/Shower-Out Protocols: The importance of dedicated clothing, footwear and controlled movement.

• Footbath Management: Proper cleaning, disinfection and maintenance practices, including the use of Virkon™ S.

• Equipment Biosecurity: Why equipment must be properly cleaned, disinfected and dried before entering production areas.