On the Ground Global Monitoring Helps Swine Disease Prevention

The Swine Health Information Center says the cooperation of contacts on the ground around the world is helping the swine sector become more responsive to the threat of disease

by Bruce Cochrane – FarmScape Online

In an effort to help contain the spread of diseases that affect swine the University of Minnesota in partnership with the Swine Health Information Center is tracking swine diseases both domestically and globally through official government sources and through a network of contacts on the ground.

Swine Health Information Center Executive Director Dr. Paul Sundberg says one of the more rewarding aspects of this initiative has been the level of cooperation.

“The value of that network of contacts is extremely high because that gives us the real time status of diseases and of swine health”

 

“When we contact people for those soft sources in other countries, for the most part they’re very willing to give us a heads up on what’s going on.

“They’re very willing to talk to us and they’re very willing to give us their intel about the animal health, the swine health status within their country.

“So there’s a number of contacts and there’s a network.

“I think probably the best term would be a network of contacts around the world in practically all of the continents, in Europe in Asia, in southeast Asia, in South America.

“Often the official word out of countries is either late, it takes time for that to happen, or it might not accurately reflect the current situation that’s on the ground and happening.

“The value of that network of contacts is extremely high because that gives us the real time status of diseases and of swine health in different countries and in different areas of the world.

Dr. Sundberg says the objective is to help understand what the disease risks are and how we can prevent them and, if we can’t prevent them, then at least how we can more effectively respond.

FarmScape Online