SHIC 2026 Plan of Work Aims to Build on Record 2025 ROI to US Pork Producers

Each year, the Swine Health Information Center updates its Plan of Work developed from stakeholder priorities. The 2026 Plan of Work, which guides SHIC’s activities, contains 25 projects and topics designed to fulfill SHIC’s five strategic priorities: 1) improve swine health information, 2) monitor and mitigate risks to swine health, 3) responding to emerging disease, 4) surveillance and discovery of emerging disease, and 5) swine disease matrices. SHIC’s 2025 Progress Report contains details on the record return on investment for the Center’s activities to protect and enhance the health of the US swine herd, based on Plan of Work deliverables.

Industry stakeholders provide input into the development of the Plan of Work which is then approved by the SHIC Board of Directors. Activities directed by the 2026 Plan of Work will be implemented by Executive Director Dr. Megan Niederwerder and Associate Director Dr. Lisa Becton with input from the board and SHIC Working Groups.

Primary funding for SHIC’s 2026 Plan of Work comes from the Pork Checkoff under a contract between both organizations. In 2026, the National Pork Board voted to provide $1.5 million to fund SHIC. SHIC’s 2026 Plan of Work reflects this budget while maintaining its focus on deliverables to the US swine industry and the pork producers who fund the Checkoff.

While the 2026 Plan of Work directs activities for SHIC, the organization is nimble and able to respond to industry needs as they arise. Stakeholder input and ideas are welcomed year-round to inform newly identified industry needs which may necessitate adapting the Plan of Work to fulfill SHIC’s mission. A request for proposals to address 2026 Plan of Work priorities is planned for release later this year.

In 2026, SHIC continues its ongoing partnership with the Foundation for Food & Agriculture Research and Pork Checkoff aiming to fill knowledge gaps regarding H5N1 Risk to Swine through a collaborative research program. Ten H5N1 projects on swine were funded in 2025 to address gaps in knowledge identified through producer input. In January 2026, SHIC released a second round of request for proposals to fulfill remaining H5N1 research priorities.

SHIC 2026 Plan of Work Priorities

Improve Swine Health Information

• Veterinary diagnostic laboratory data collation for domestic disease monitoring
• Morrison Swine Health Monitoring Project voluntary reporting for domestic disease monitoring
• Webinars to inform veterinarians and producers about emerging swine health issues
• Maintaining up-to-date swine disease fact sheets
• Ensuring timely and valuable communications across stakeholder audiences

Monitor and Mitigate Risks to Swine Health

• Monitoring high-risk product importation and traveler entry at borders
• Global disease monitoring to identify international swine disease risks
• Fostering information sharing with government and allied industry through international animal health organizations
• Packing plant biocontainment to reduce trailer contamination at unloading docks
• Packing plant tools for effective cleaning and disinfection of lairage
• Cull sow and secondary market biosecurity and disease surveillance

Responding to Emerging Disease

• Emergency disease preparedness and response planning in coordination with state, federal and industry stakeholders
• Rapid deployment of research funds for a newly emerging disease
• Identification of early disease warning signals utilizing emerging technology
• New World Screwworm as an emerging disease risk for US swine
• Mitigating risk of H5N1 IAV to commercial swine populations
• Investigating production and swine health impacts of porcine sapovirus as an emerging pathogen
• Porcine astrovirus 4 as an emerging disease threat to US swine
• Utilizing standardized outbreak investigations to identify high risk events for pathogen entry

Surveillance and Discovery of Emerging Disease

• Diagnostic fee support to assist in early detection of emerging diseases
• Increasing the utility of VDL submissions as an effective surveillance stream for detection of emerging diseases
• Investigating the clinical relevance and epidemiology of newly identified agents in VDL submissions associated with swine disease
• Genome-based diagnostic technologies for emerging disease detection and forensic analysis
• Population and environmental surveillance technologies to facilitate rapid detection of emerging diseases

Swine Disease Matrix

• Using the bacterial and viral swine disease matrices as guidelines for research to enhance swine disease diagnostic capabilities

The Swine Health Information Center, launched in 2015 with Pork Checkoff funding, protects and enhances the health of the US swine herd by minimizing the impact of emerging disease threats through preparedness, coordinated communications, global disease monitoring, analysis of swine health data, and targeted research investments. As a conduit of information and research, SHIC encourages sharing of its publications and research. Forward, reprint, and quote SHIC material freely. For more information, visit http://www.swinehealth.org or contact Dr. Megan Niederwerder at [email protected] or Dr. Lisa Becton at [email protected].