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Good biosecurity helps swine industry evade H5N1

The state swine veterinarian with University of Missouri Extension says good biosecurity is likely the reason why H5N1 hasn’t been confirmed in hogs yet.

Cory Bromfield tells Brownfield “standard biosecurity may include things like filtering the air that comes into the barns, having people that show up at the barns take a shower and change clothes before they come into the barn. The fact that the buildings themselves are meant to be bird resistant will do a whole lot for keeping avian influenza out of the barns.”

She says it’s still possible for H5N1 to show up in hogs and producers should always been on the lookout for any influenza heading into colder months, not just H5N1.

“Coughing, sneezing, nasal discharge and fevers, those are all really good reasons to give your vet a call and do some diagnostic work to figure out what it is you have in the barn, whether it’s the standard pig influenza or something out of the ordinary.”

USDA is still confirming H5N1 in dairy cows and at the end of August, there has been 20 confirmed cases across 5 states over the last month.