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New swine transportation research working to identify practical disease prevention tools

New research from the National Swine Health Strategy could help producers limit the spread of disease.

Dr. Megan Hood with Reicks Veterinary Research and Consulting says researchers are looking at ways to cut costs and improve transportation biosecurity. 

“We had 50 trailers that we were testing at each step of that process,” she says. “After those trailers were disinfected, none of those trailers were positive and after our modified dry step, also none of those trailers were positive.”

Paul Ayers, National Pork Board member and chair of the Swine Health Advisory Committee, says proper sanitation is a critical part of disease prevention.

“If you wash your trailers effectively, you can significantly reduce the viral load and minimize pathogen spread throughout your production system,” he says. 

Both say developing cost-effective solutions that producers can effectively implement is key to improving the long-term health of the U.S. swine herd.

AUDIO: Dr. Megan Hood and Paul Ayers