Source: IOWA STATE UNIVERSITY submitted to NRP
ENABLING RAPID AND EFFECTIVE RESPONSE TO DISEASE OUTBREAKS IN SWINE POPULATIONS
Sponsoring Institution
National Institute of Food and Agriculture
Project Status
ACTIVE
Funding Source
AFRI COMPETITIVE GRANT
Reporting Frequency
Annual
Accession No.
1032057
Grant No.
2024-68014-42361
Cumulative Award Amt.
$1,000,000.00
Proposal No.
2023-10987
Multistate No.
(N/A)
Project Start Date
Sep 15, 2024
Project End Date
Sep 14, 2027
Grant Year
2024
Program Code
[A1261]- Inter-Disciplinary Engagement in Animal Systems
Recipient Organization
IOWA STATE UNIVERSITY
S. AND 16TH ELWOOD
AMES,IA 50011
Performing Department
VETERINARY DIAGNOSTIC AND PRODUCTION ANIMAL MEDICINE - CVM
Non Technical Summary
Infectious disease outbreaks continue to threaten the health & productivity of the US swine herd. The severity and magnitude of disease impact depend on the interaction of herd characteristics and practices implemented in response to outbreaks. Even though veterinarians and producers record aspects related to disease outbreak response & recovery, this data is often stored in disconnected databases, hampering the ability to exchange knowledge, experiences, and data-driven discussions in the swine industry.We will leverage the combined experience of the working team to assemble a cyberinfrastructure platform to store and aggregate data from herds experiencing disease outbreaks with PRRS virus, the most economically significant pathogen affecting the US swine herd. The model, which can later be adapted to other pathogens and food animal species, will reveal and benchmark aspects related to response & recovery from outbreaks. Benchmarking efforts will facilitate discussions with veterinarians, producers, and industry partners that offer relevant products or technology to respond to diseases. Regression and artificial intelligence-based analyses will forecast recovery parameters, provide a recovery prognosis, and provide producer-specific decision trees on best practices for swifter recovery from outbreaks.Strategic collaborations and extension activities will foster the Precision Disease Management concept. Activities will promote the implementation of strategies and field-applied knowledge to support producers in making data-driven decisions to efficiently improve response & recovery from outbreaks. The integrated project will significantly improve the health & productivity of the US swine herd, creating the capacity to manage existing and future endemic and emerging infectious disease threats.
Animal Health Component
75%
Research Effort Categories
Basic
25%
Applied
75%
Developmental
0%
Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)Subject of Investigation (SOI)Field of Science (FOS)Percent
31135991090100%
Knowledge Area
311 - Animal Diseases;

Subject Of Investigation
3599 - Swine, general/other;

Field Of Science
1090 - Immunology;
Goals / Objectives
The overall objective is to develop and implement a disease intelligence platform to capture, benchmark, analyze, and forecast standardized aspects related to the recovery of swine populations following disease outbreaks.
Project Methods
For the research goals, this project will develop and launch a secure, sustainable, and scalable digital platform to store standardized key metrics about the onset, response, and recovery of outbreaks. The consolidated data will be used to reveal the characteristics of swine herds experiencing PRRSV outbreaks in the US, benchmark health interventions, biosecurity, and bio-management practices implemented in response to outbreaks, and provide forecasting and prognosis of key recovery metrics to herds. Generated information will be used in the decision-making process to support veterinarians and producers to effectively employ data-driven solutions to timely respond to outbreaks. Data analyses will be performed on the project's secure data warehouse that will capture and organize standardized health, productivity, demographics, interventions, and practices related to disease outbreaks in swine populations.Regarding extension, the overall goal is to bridge the gap between academia and the broader swine community in achieving a rapid, effective, and data-driven response(s) to disease outbreaks affecting the US swine herd. The plan will be accomplished by consistent data sharing, communication of research findings, feedback collection with practicing veterinarians and producers, and ongoing benchmarking of the aspects associated with disease outbreaks. An advisory council will be established, including veterinarians, epidemiologists, and small and large swine producers. The group will discuss findings, fine-tune the research goals, assess opportunities for allocation of resources and interventions, and broadly promote the concept and disseminate knowledge from the research goals. The integrated field-based research & extension initiatives will improve the capacity for disease response in the US swine herd.

Progress 09/15/24 to 09/14/25

Outputs
Target Audience:The PRRS Outbreak Management Program (POMP) is specifically designed for individuals and organizations involved in managing breeding swine herds affected by PRRSV outbreaks. This includes U.S. swine producers who are currently experiencing, or have previously experienced, a PRRS outbreak. The program also targets veterinarians, production managers, and herd health advisors who are actively engaged in PRRS response efforts. In addition, POMP serves stakeholders and decision-making partners who are committed to promoting and implementing current, evidence-based strategies for effective PRRS management and outbreak recovery. Changes/Problems:No changes have been made to the project thus far. Additionally, no significant problems have been encountered that lack feasible solutions. The project remains on track, and both the research and extension objectives are expected to be achieved according to the proposed schedule. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?The project has offered valuable training and professional development opportunities across multiple levels. For research staff, one research scientist is actively coordinating the program under the supervision of the project director. This individual has gained exposure to a diverse network of stakeholders across academia and the swine industry. In addition, the staff member has received training in science communication, project leadership, and data analysis, enhancing both technical and soft skills relevant to translational research. A PhD graduate student is currently undergoing training through their involvement in the project. The student will incorporate analyses derived from the POMP database as a chapter in their dissertation, allowing them to apply epidemiological and statistical methods to real-world disease management data. The project has also facilitated expanded research opportunities. Based on the foundational insights developed through POMP, additional research questions have been successfully funded by external agencies, including the Iowa Livestock Health Advisory Council, the American Association of Swine Veterinarians Foundation, and the National Pork Board. Finally, swine producers and veterinarians have benefited from targeted education and training through annual PRRS workshops, which have served as a key extension component of the program. These sessions have helped disseminate best practices in PRRS outbreak response and fostered collaborative learning within the industry. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Results from year one of the grant were shared at several conferences through oral presentations, such as Carthage Veterinary Service conference 2024 (in Spanish), American Association of Swine Veterinarians 2025 (selected for research topics oral presentation), McKean Swine Disease Conference 2025, Precision Livestock Farming Conference 2025, Carthage Veterinary Service conference 2025, Leman Swine Conference 2025. Additionally, various swine veterinarians have highlighted the role of POMP during their oral presentations at conferences. We also provided interviews in two podcasts (one is under publication) and produced one article in magazines targeting swine producers and practitioners. Other PRRS workshops alongside the McKean Swine Disease Conference is plan for June 2026 and 2027. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?During the next reporting period, we will establish prognostic models for key disease recovery metrics, specifically focusing on total loss and time-to-stability. Following a thorough review of the POMP database, we are now prepared to initiate prognostic analyses using decision tree methodologies. These analyses will consider various scenarios and conditions related to PRRSV outbreak management responses. Additionally, we will begin developing forecasting models to estimate the time required to return to baseline levels for critical production indicators that precede total losses, such as abortion rates and piglet neonatal losses, including stillbirths and mummified fetuses.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Research goals. We developed, implemented, and finalized a free-of-charge web-based online safe, convenient, and sustainable platform to store standardized data related to PRRSV outbreak onset, response, and recovery. The PRRS outbreak management program (POMP) digital platform was developed as a web application hosted in the fieldepi server and included as a portal in the POMP website (fieldepi.org/pomp). The participants were given a login to access and upload the data (survey regarding practices used in the outbreak, pig production records, and diagnostics) from their enrolled herd outbreaks. The login serves as the authenticator (encryption keys) to safeguard the data and restrict access to specific users, e.g., participants can only manage and view their own data. The platform is accessible through computer, tablet, and mobile devices. The survey is implemented in Qualtrics and produces Excel files ready-to-analyze as needed. The participant is offered to answer the survey through their computer/mobile, phone calls, and meet at offices with the project coordinator, who adds the data to the platform through administrator login. Web APIs links Qualtrics-based survey to the POMP digital platform. We organize survey follow-ups periodically with the aid of the Center for Survey Statistics and Methodology (CSSM) (cssm.iastate.edu/). In total, we obtained 72 survey records between December 2024 and July 2025. Considering retrospective and prospectively monitored outbreaks, our POMP database includes a total of 517 outbreaks across 45 swine producers. Recently, we obtained 35 outbreak entries in 2024 and 15 in 2025 across 13 swine producers. Summing up the last year, the 50 outbreaks represent 38% of the proposed target of 130 outbreaks to be collected between year one and three of the grant. The production indicators of outbreak recovery are stablished and implemented as time-to-stability (TTS) (the number of weeks from the outbreak date until the herd consistently produces PRRSV-negative pigs as standardized PRRSV terminology set forth by the American Association of Swine Veterinarians) and total piglet losses (the number of pigs not weaned after the outbreak when compared to farm-specific baseline levels prior to the outbreak). By connecting the survey entries, production indicators, and diagnostic data (such as the sequencing of PRRSV ORF5), we evaluated and benchmarked the main interventions used to control the PRRSV outbreaks, herd demographics, and outbreak-associated lineages with the production indicators of outbreak recovery within and between producers undergoing PRRSV outbreaks. Various benchmarking reports have been delivered to producers and presented to stakeholders, strengthening the network between industry and academia. Additionally, various swine producers contact us for specific benchmarks. The relationships between demographic characteristics, practices implemented in response to outbreak, and key recovery metrics using regression models have been done, and results presented in various conferences. A manuscript is under production. Extension goals. We established the producer support and communications advisory board team on disease response and recovery and had the first in-person meeting on June 25th 2025. The advisory team includes seven swine veterinarians, one stakeholder from the American Assoc. of Swine Veterinarians, one stakeholder from Swine Disease Reporting System, one stakeholder from National Pork Board, and a faculty member from the University of Minnesota and a faculty member from The Ohio State University. The advisory team recognized the value of this project and provided various suggestions for benchmarking reports. The advisory board team meetings will be held twice a year, once in person and another virtually. One PRRSV outbreak control workshop was held in June 25 alongside the McKean Swine Disease Conference 2025, and another one is schedule for March 2026 alongside the American Association of Swine Veterinarians Annual Conference 2026. We have also developed training materials, such as YouTube videos on what is POMP and how interact with the POMP platform, POMP website (fieldepi.org/pomp/), PDF materials on sample submission and create a new survey on the POMP portal, rapid flyers explaining what products producers can obtain with POMP and what questions to expect from the survey.

Publications

  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2024 Citation: E.De Conti, A. P. P. Silva, C. Rademacher, G. Silva, T. Peterson, G. Trevisan, D. Linhares. �Qu� lecciones hemos aprendido de los brotes de PRRSV en diversas empresas de la industria porcina? 34th Anual Swine Conference. Carthage Veterinary Service, Quincy IL. 2024.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2025 Citation: Poeta Silva AP. Impact of production and health management strategies on PRRSV outbreak recovery in breeding herds. American Assoc. of Swine Veterinarians 2025. San Francisco CA
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2025 Citation: Poeta Silva AP. Updates from the PRRS outbreak management program! McKean Swine Disease Conference. 2025. Ames IA
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2025 Citation: E. De Conti, A. P. S. Poeta Silva, K. Rupasinghe, S. Jayaraman, T. Peterson, L. Linhares, G. S. Silva, G. Trevisan, C. Rademacher, D. Linhares. Integrating Data from Swine Farms to Identify Significant Practices for Recovery from Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome Virus (PRRSV) Outbreaks. 3rd U.S. Precision Livestock Farming Conference, 2025.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2025 Citation: Poeta Silva AP. Updates from the PRRS outbreak management program. 35th Anual Swine Conference. Carthage Veterinary Service, Quincy IL. 2025.
  • Type: Other Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2024 Citation: Chris Rademacher, Ana Paula Silva, Tina Peterson, Elisa De Conti, Giovani Trevisan, Gustavo Silva and Daniel Linhares. PRRS Outbreak Management Program. National Hog Farmer. September 3, 2024. https://www.nationalhogfarmer.com/livestock-management/prrs-outbreak-management-program
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2025 Citation: Linhares D. Production parameters in PRRSV infected farms over the years. Allen D. Leman Swine Conference 2025. Saint Paul MN.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2025 Citation: Lessons learned from PRRSV outbreaks across multiple companies. Elisa De Conti, Ana Paula S. Poeta Silva, Christopher Rademacher, Tina Peterson, Giovani Trevisan, Gustavo Silva, Daniel Linhares. McKean Conference, 2025, Ames, Iowa. Proc McKean Conference, 2025.
  • Type: Websites Status: Published Year Published: 2025 Citation: Rupasinghe K, Poeta Silva AP, De Conti E, Linhares D. PRRS Outbreak Management Program (POMP). https://fieldepi.org/pomp/.
  • Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2025 Citation: Poeta Silva AP. Educational material on the PRRS Outbreak Management Program (POMP). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YApRYBFNTcE&t=1s
  • Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2024 Citation: Poeta Silva AP. Interview on the PRRS Outbreak Management Program (POMP). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zAAa3PoZvsg&t=72s
  • Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2024 Citation: Linhares D. Intro on the PRRS Outbreak Management Program (POMP). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sqy7mS1DQC0&t=1s