SwineHealth News for December 2, 2024

A study by the University of Minnesota College of Veterinary Medicine looks at what is known about the impact of High Path Avian Influenza on livestock.
A Swine Health Information Center funded literature review looked at information related to the risk posed by H5N1 to swine and identified knowledge gaps.
SHIC Associate Director Dr. Lisa Becton says the goal was to identify research priorities for H5N1 risk to swine, assist in prevention and response planning for pork producers and summarise the clinical presentation of H5N1 in livestock compared to other influenza strains.

Quote-Dr. Lisa Becton-Swine Health Information Center:
This literature review was really timely because it got all of us together within industry including veterinarians, producers and others to look at what are some consistent and common questions that were raised as far as H5N1 potential infection in swine.
Again, the biggest need was looking at the clinical presentation in domestic swine and that included what type of organ systems were involved, meaning is this a respiratory disease, does this hit the mammary glands, are there other organ systems such as brain or heart or others that would be involved in infections?
This is largely unknown for swine at this point.
Other things, what are the transmission dynamics, how does this virus potentially spread and how is the virus shed?
If we understand those things, then we can hone in on methods to reduce potential sped or spread.
Other areas are understanding vaccine development and how that could be used to develop immunity in pigs and really help control the virus should it ever be present.
Also, other things would include validation of our diagnostics because in any plan to identify a disease we have to have the appropriate diagnostics.

Dr. Becton suggests biosecurity steps to prevent exposing pigs to wild birds is important because, while wild birds are not necessarily impacted by this virus, they can still can shed the virus.
For more visit Farmscape.Ca.
Bruce Cochrane.

*SwineHealth News is produced in association with Farmscape.Ca on behalf of North America's pork producers