National Swine Health Strategy aims to tackle porcine diseases

Elimination of diseases such as porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS) and porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDv) is a main concern for every U.S. hog producer, and the development of the National Swine Health Strategy (NSHS) hopes to do just that, as well as prepare and prevent the introduction of foreign animal and emerging diseases.

The NSHS is a producer-driven initiative born out of an advisement presented at the National Pork Industry Forum in March 2025. 

At the same time, the National Pork Board’s (NPB) Board of Directors approved a new strategic plan with a pillar focused on “improving the lives of pigs and people,” according to NPB Director of Swine Health Meredith Petersen.

“There’s also been a lot of industrywide discussions on this topic,” Petersen noted. “How can we coordinate work around swine health to get further as an industry?”

Establishing the NSHS

There is strength in numbers, and the NPB and National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) hit the ground running after the forum to gather as much information as possible from producers through more than 800 individual surveys and 47 listening sessions with producer groups, production systems and swine veterinary clinics. 

A 12-member advisory group is made up of producers from different regions, segments of production and sizes of system or producer, as well as two state pork association executive directors and the chief executive officers from the NPB and NPPC. The group reviewed insights gathered and set the direction for the NSHS.

Five priorities have been identified, which include the elimination of major swine diseases such as PRRS and PEDv, reducing endemic disease spread, enhancing preparedness for foreign animal diseases (FAD) and monitoring emerging threats.

Already in place to address health issues in the swine world are such networks as the Swine Health Information Center (SHIC), Swine Health Improvement Plan (SHIP) and the Secure Pork Supply Plan (SPSP), but Petersen emphasized the NSHS isn’t creating anything new. Instead, it is helping agencies coordinate toward common goals.

“For example, the SPSP will continue to be a program the industry has to help producers prepare for an FAD outbreak,” Petersen said. “So, this directly aligns with the priority underneath the goal of keeping FADs out. What this does is allows us – from a national organization perspective – to align our work with these goals.”

Expanding the toolbox 

Scott Hays, executive director of the Missouri Pork Association and a fifth-generation hog producer from Monroe City, Mo., sees SHIC, SHIP and the SPSP as tools for producers. 

“This group is going to take a strategic look at all of the tools that exist today, plus whatever else producers or individual states are doing and apply it to the industry, then coordinate all of this to hopefully make a difference for the health of the herd,” Hays said.

Making a difference for the U.S. herd’s health starts with every producer implementing biosecurity measures and industry-wide biocontainment. 

“We’ve got some great tools there, but we need to all coordinate and use them together,” Hays added.

Indicated by the surveys and listening sessions, PRRS and PEDv are still key concerns for producers regardless of operation size or geography. 

“Overwhelmingly, we heard the focus on those domestic diseases, while also keeping an eye on FADs and emerging diseases,” Petersen said.

What does this strategic plan mean for producers? 

“What I hope producers are able to see, at least from us at Pork Checkoff, is research which is really applicable to them at the farm level, and then producer education which can be implemented directly on the farm,” Petersen said.

Though this is a voluntary program, Hays said after every major disease faced on his farm, they assess where the failure was. 

He said, “I hope as producers we can collectively have data available so we can start making real changes. We’re making bad decisions with no information because there was no information. We can make good decisions if we have good information.”

Kevin Schulz is the editor of The Farmer. This article was originally published by The Farmer on Jan. 12.