A center plans to unveil a new report, designed to help swine producers in protecting their operations.
The Swine Health Information Center (SHIC) hopes to publish its first report later this fall. The report ties to the near real-time domestic swine disease monitoring system, created by Iowa State University and University of Minnesota. Paul Sundberg is Executive Director of SHIC. Sundberg said the system helps swine producers in identifying emerging diseases.
?If something comes into thee Iowa diagnostic lab, and you put that information with what?s going on in Minnesota, Ohio, Indiana or North Carolina, it?s possible to see a pattern. If you take one region by itself, the information doesn?t look like anything. But, if you put things together, analyze them and provide some context, you might be able to find emerging diseases more quickly. That can help producers respond more quickly and effectively,? Sundberg said.
The system builds off a previously funded project, where veterinarian diagnostic labs standardized the way they report swine testing information.
?We want to take advantage of the opportunity. (We want) to put the testing data together and analyze it for trends or differences. We?re looking forward to giving producers and veterinarians information that will help them manage the pigs on their farms,? Sundberg said.
Pork producers can access reports via www.swinehealth.org.
