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Effective biosecurity is crucial for preventing swine diseases, but there can be a gap between what producers intend and what actually happens on the farm. We conducted a cross-sectional, self-administered online survey of Midwestern US swine operations (N = 54) to explore beliefs and practices related to the Secure Pork Supply (SPS) plan. Because some questions had item-level nonresponse, we report proportions for the full sample (denominator = 54) and, where helpful, for those who responded to specific items (sample size varies). Across the full sample, 27.8% (15/54) said they use biosecurity measures always or sometimes. For enhanced biosecurity, 24.1% (13/54) marked always and 3.7% (2/54) sometimes—with all item responders (N = 15) indicating some level of use. Among those who answered, the influence of veterinarians was clear: 81.8% (9/11) said their vet’s opinion is always important when deciding on biosecurity (compared to 16.7% in the full sample). Confidence in controlling an outbreak was similarly high among those who responded: 92.9% (13/14) reported they could always or sometimes control spread (24.1% in the full sample). That said, uptake of several specific SPS components was low—for example, only 27.3% (3/11) reported always monitoring or recording crossings of the line of separation, while 63.6% (7/11) said never. No single biosecurity practice was universally adopted, and overall, fully SPS-aligned programs appeared uncommon in this Midwestern group. These descriptive findings point to clear targets for improvement—such as better monitoring of the line of separation—and highlight potential leverage points, especially the role of attending veterinarians, for outreach efforts. Because this was a convenience sample relying on self-report and had item nonresponse, the results are not statistically representative of the broader regional industry but do provide valuable insights into respondent practices.

Pork is one of the most popular consumer meat choices globally, second to poultry. In the past two decades, the rising demand in pork, has seen pig farming move toward intensive farming methods, characterized by high pig densities which is a risk for swift spread of disease necessitating proper and strict biosecurity adherence to facilitate disease-free conditions and business continuity. North America is the second largest pig producer globally. We conducted a review of available peer-reviewed original publications to scope for available data on the knowledge, attitudes, perceptions, and practices concerning biosecurity among swine producers in North America from the year 2011 to 2022 using the PRISMA-SCr guidelines. Out of the 323 papers that fit our search criteria, we present insights from the 18 papers that were relevant to our study. We summarize key findings on biosecurity practices and propose critical practices for biosecurity adherence. We also present our findings on the complexities that influence producers’ adoption of biosecurity plans and note variations in biosecurity strictness between states and how these are influenced by farm size and perceived disease risk. In conclusion, this review highlights the need for updated assessments of biosecurity practices, leveraging technology particularly machine learning, for risk assessment, and acknowledges the role that demographics and risk perception play in biosecurity adoption. Ultimately, effective biosecurity measures are imperative for safeguarding North American swine production systems against disease threats especially foreign animal diseases like the African swine fever (ASF), foot and mouth disease (FMD) and classical swine fever.

Despite existing biosecurity frameworks, there is limited empirical evidence on how US swine producers’ beliefs, behaviors, and risk perceptions influence enhanced biosecurity implementation. We conducted an online survey among US swine producers to understand their biosecurity beliefs, behaviors, and practices. We used descriptive, unsupervised machine learning, and Factor Analysis for Mixed Data (FAMD). Of fifty-four respondents, 48.1% reported implementing some biosecurity measures, and 72.2% valued having enhanced biosecurity protocols. Majority (53.7%) considered their veterinarian’s biosecurity opinion most important, and 37% were not concerned about African swine fever. Almost all (90.7%) felt confident they could contain an outbreak on their farms. However, none practiced enhanced biosecurity. The cluster analysis identified four distinct producer profiles (K = 4). Cluster A had young, inexperienced producers operating breeding facilities, with moderate biosecurity adoption. Cluster B included young, small-farm producers with variable biosecurity practices and low mortality rates. Cluster C comprised farms with moderate experience, higher mortality rates, and the lowest biosecurity adoption. Cluster D was composed of older, experienced, educated producers with the highest biosecurity standards and lowest mortality rates. FAMD revealed clustering along human capital and resource availability dimensions. Regular biosecurity assessments, tailored recommendations, and training would improve biosecurity in the swine industry.

Theileria parva is the causative agent of East Coast fever and Corridor disease, which are fatal, economically important diseases of cattle in eastern, central and southern Africa. Improved methods of control of the diseases are urgently required. The parasite transforms host lymphocytes, resulting in a rapid, clonal expansion of infected cells. Resistance to the disease has long been reported in cattle from T. parva -endemic areas. We reveal here that first- and second-generation descendants of a single Bos indicus bull survived severe challenge with T. parva , (overall survival rate 57.3% compared to 8.7% for unrelated animals) in a series of five field studies. Tolerant cattle displayed a delayed and less severe parasitosis and febrile response than unrelated animals. The in vitro proliferation of cells from surviving cattle was much reduced compared to those from animals that succumbed to infection. Additionally, some pro-inflammatory cytokines such as IL1β, IL6, TNFα or TGFβ which are usually strongly expressed in susceptible animals and are known to regulate cell growth or motility, remain low in tolerant animals. This correlates with the reduced proliferation and less severe clinical reactions observed in tolerant cattle. The results show for the first time that the inherited tolerance to T. parva is associated with decreased proliferation of infected lymphocytes. The results are discussed in terms of whether the reduced proliferation is the result of a perturbation of the transformation mechanism induced in infected cells or is due to an innate immune response present in the tolerant cattle.

Corridor disease (CD) is a fatal condition of cattle caused by buffalo-derived Theileria parva . Unlike the related condition, East Coast fever, which results from infection with cattle-derived T. parva , CD has not been extensively studied. We describe in detail the clinical and laboratory findings in cattle naturally infected with buffalo-derived T. parva . Forty-six cattle were exposed to buffalo-derived T. parva under field conditions at the Ol Pejeta Conservancy, Kenya, between 2013 and 2018. The first signs of disease observed in all animals were nasal discharge (mean day of onset was 9 days post-exposure), enlarged lymph nodes (10 days post-exposure), and pyrexia (13.7 days post-exposure). Coughing and labored breathing were observed in more than 50% of animals (14 days post-exposure). Less commonly observed signs, corneal edema (22%) and diarrhea (11%), were observed later in the disease progression (19 days post-exposure). All infections were considered clinically severe, and 42 animals succumbed to infection. The mean time to death across all studies was 18.4 days. The mean time from onset of clinical signs to death was 9 days and from pyrexia to death was 4.8 days, indicating a relatively short duration of clinical illness. There were significant relationships between days to death and the days to first temperature (chi 2 = 4.00, p = 0.046), and days to peak temperature (chi 2 = 25.81, p = 0.001), animals with earlier onset pyrexia died sooner. These clinical indicators may be useful for assessing the severity of disease in the future. All infections were confirmed by the presence of macroschizonts in lymph node biopsies (mean time to parasitosis was 11 days). Piroplasms were detected in the blood of two animals (4%) and 20 (43%) animals seroconverted. In this study, we demonstrate the successful approach to an experimental field study for CD in cattle. We also describe the clinical progression of CD in naturally infected cattle, including the onset and severity of clinical signs and pathology. Laboratory diagnoses based on examination of blood samples are unreliable, and alternatives may not be available to cattle keepers. The rapid development of CD requires recognition of the clinical signs, which may be useful for early diagnosis of the disease and effective intervention for affected animals.

East Coast fever, a tick-borne cattle disease caused by the Theileria parva parasite, is among the biggest natural killers of cattle in East Africa, leading to over 1 million deaths annually. Here we report on the genetic analysis of a cohort of Bos indicus (Boran) cattle demonstrating heritable tolerance to infection with T . parva ( h 2 = 0.65, s.e. 0.57). Through a linkage analysis we identify a 6 Mb genomic region on bovine chromosome 15 that is significantly associated with survival outcome following T . parva exposure. Testing this locus in an independent cohort of animals replicates this association with survival following T . parva infection. A stop gained variant in a paralogue of the FAF1 gene in this region was found to be highly associated with survival across both related and unrelated animals, with only one of the 20 homozygote carriers (T/T) of this change succumbing to the disease in contrast to 44 out of 97 animals homozygote for the reference allele (C/C). Consequently, we present a genetic locus linked to tolerance of one of Africa’s most important cattle diseases, raising the promise of marker-assisted selection for cattle that are less susceptible to infection by T . parva .

East Coast fever, a tick-borne cattle disease caused by the Theileria parva parasite, is among the biggest natural killers of cattle in East Africa, leading to over 1 million deaths annually. Here we report on the genetic analysis of a cohort of Bos indicus (Boran) cattle demonstrating heritable tolerance to infection with T. parva (h2 = 0.65, s.e. 0.57). Through a linkage analysis we identify a 6 Mb genomic region on bovine chromosome 15 that is significantly associated with survival outcome following T. parva exposure. Testing this locus in an independent cohort of animals replicates this association with survival following T. parva infection. A stop gained variant in a paralogue of the FAF1 gene in this region was found to be highly associated with survival across both related and unrelated animals, with only one of the 20 homozygote carriers (T/T) of this change succumbing to the disease in contrast to 44 out of 97 animals homozygote for the reference allele (C/C). Consequently, we present a genetic locus linked to tolerance of one of Africa's most important cattle diseases, raising the promise of marker-assisted selection for cattle that are less susceptible to infection by T. parva.