The Swine Health Information Center recently funded 12 new projects addressing research priorities and topics published in its 2025 Plan of Work. This effort helps the organization fulfill its mission to generate new intelligence for preventing, preparing for, and responding to emerging swine disease threats. Funded research areas span across the Center’s five strategic priorities: improve swine health information, monitor and mitigate risks to swine health, responding to emerging disease, surveillance and discovery of emerging disease, and swine disease matrices. The new projects were initiated in fall 2025 and range from nine to 15 months in duration. Research outcomes from the funded projects will provide critical information and resources to help pork producers as they face emerging disease challenges in their swine herds.
Newly funded projects addressing SHIC’s research priorities include enhanced monitoring of swine diseases, mitigation strategies for emerging disease preparedness and response, novel biosecurity practices for reducing disease risks, diagnostic assay development for emerging diseases, whole genome sequencing as a forensic diagnostic tool, clinical relevance of newly identified agents from veterinary diagnostic lab submissions, and modernization of swine pathogen prioritization.
The SHIC 2025 Plan of Work Request for Proposals received 57 proposals from 19 institutions with available funds totaling $1.5 million. Funding timely research is an essential component to SHIC providing project outcomes that drive action for emerging disease prevention, preparedness, mitigation, and response for the US swine industry.
SHIC 2025 Plan of Work projects funded and initiated in response to the RFP include:
Improve Swine Health Information
▪️Expand the Domestic Swine Disease Surveillance laboratory networking – Include Illinois Veterinary and Diagnostic Laboratory
⚬ Principle Investigator: Giovani Trevisan, Iowa State University
⚬ Objective: Expand the SDRS laboratory network and regional representativeness by incorporating historical and prospective data from the Illinois Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory.
▪️ISU technological transfer and implementation at OH ADDL of confirmed tissue disease diagnosis codes and prospective reporting to the SDRS
⚬ Principle Investigator: Giovani Trevisan, Iowa State University
⚬ Objective: Transfer and implement the current ISU VDL disease diagnosis Dx code matrix to OH ADDL for expanded data collation in monthly reports.
Monitor and Mitigate Risks to Swine Health
▪️Investigating trailer contamination rates and related factors at the cull sow harvest plant
⚬ Principle Investigator: Cesar Corzo, University of Minnesota
⚬ Objective: Determine the seasonal probability of PRRSV, PEDV, PDCoV, TGEV, and SVA trailer contamination at the cull sow harvest facility-trailer interface and investigate factors that contribute to contamination probability.
▪️Evaluation of harvest plant dock protocols to reduce viral transfer to market hog trailers
⚬ Principle Investigator: Cesar Corzo, University of Minnesota
⚬ Objective: To determine whether transfer of viruses from the dock to the trailer occurs when using disposable plastic boots and/or a surface powder sanitizer and assess the unloading interventions that prevent the next load of pigs and farm from becoming infected.
▪️Assessing pathogen contamination in dead boxes of PRRSV-negative swine farms
⚬ Principle Investigator: Igor Paploski, University of Minnesota
⚬ Objective: Assessing the viral contamination around dead animal disposal structures in PRRSV or PEDV negative farms and investigate if rendering vehicles can spread infectious agents between farms.
▪️Bridging industry data and disease risk: movement and biosecurity insights into PRRSV outbreaks
⚬ Principle Investigator: Gustavo De Sousa E Silva, Iowa State University
⚬ Objective: Assess the association of movement types with the timing and frequency of PRRS outbreaks; identify the roles of highly connected sites, trucks, and personnel associated with outbreaks, describe high-risk movement patterns.
Responding to Emerging Disease
▪️Determining the diagnostic test characteristics of Japanese encephalitis virus RT-rtPCR assay using clinical samples in Australia
⚬ Principle Investigator: Rahul K Nelli, Iowa State University
⚬ Objective: Develop and evaluate the diagnostic specificity and sensitivity of pan-JEV RT-rtPCR assay using field samples of known status from Australia.
Surveillance and Discovery of Emerging Disease
▪️Characterization of a PEDV variant strain associated with the recent outbreaks in Illinois and Iowa
⚬ Principle Investigator: Jianqiang Zhang, Iowa State University
⚬ Objective: Characterize the PEDV 6-nt deletion variant in comparison with a 2013 non-S INDEL PEDV using a pig challenge model for their virulence, duration of virus shedding, and cross protection.
▪️Improving molecular surveillance of PRRSV-2: Quantifying global and domestic risks of PRRSV-2 variants of concern
⚬ Principle Investigator: Kimberly VanderWaal, University of Minnesota
⚬ Objective: Expand lineage-variant classification to other countries to monitor transboundary introductions of PRRSV-2, inform international swine disease risks, and improve the quality of swine health information for PRRSV-2 by enabling PRRS-Loom dashboard end-users to visualize their own sequences.
▪️Optimizing the TELSVirus workflow for improved surveillance and characterization of swine respiratory viruses
⚬ Principle Investigator: Noelle Noyes, University of Minnesota
⚬ Objective: Increase the sensitivity of the TELSVirus workflow for low-abundance respiratory viruses in oral fluid samples, modify the workflow to accommodate low-input samples, improve the utility of WGS analysis from TELSVirus data.
Swine Disease Matrices
▪️Evaluating PEDV non-S INDEL and S INDEL spike gene-based differential PCRs and determining the detection frequency of these two PEDV strains
⚬ Principle Investigator: Jianqiang Zhang, Iowa State University
⚬ Objective: Evaluate four PEDV non-S INDEL and S INDEL gene-based differential real-time PCR assays and determine the detection frequency of non-S INDEL and S INDEL PEDV strains in PEDV screening PCR-positive samples.
▪️Modernizing Pathogen Prioritization for US Swine Health: A Risk-Based Framework for 2025 and Beyond
⚬ Principle Investigator: Eric Neumann, Epi-Insight USA
⚬ Objective: Develop a harmonized, multi-criteria framework with transparent definitions to prioritize both viral and bacterial swine pathogens and deliver reproducible tools and documentation to allow future updating of the matrices.
In addition to these 12 projects, six projects addressing the SHIC 2025 Plan of Work have been selected for awards through a co-funding partnership with the Foundation for Food & Agriculture Research. Aligning across both organizations’ priorities, these six projects will be announced in the coming weeks.
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].