A rapidly evolving pork industry, a dramatically different animal health scene both domestically and internationally, and radical changes in the domain of government lead to many suppositions regarding the role of APHIS. The time for a new era of government and industry health strategies is dawning. The purpose of this paper is to relate the context in which activities of the National Animal Health Monitoring System (NAHMS) are conducted, their critical role in improving the health of the industry, and to provide an update of the recent national commodity study: Swine ‘95.

The pork industry has undergone a rapid maturation the last decade becoming a more defined agribusiness as seen by changes in the acquiring of capital and the goals of pork producers (uniform, lean pork product). One of the many implications has been the development of myriad of new technologies e.g. AIAO, SEW, AI, networking etc. Has this led to a greater divergence in the health status of the U.S. pork industry? If so, what new dangers does this pose regarding new and emerging diseases?

Pork producers have been able to capitalize on successes in disease control and eradication allowing us to refocus our collective attention on new challenges. Concomitant changes in the global situation have ushered in many new opportunities for today’s pork producer. However new threats have emerged with the relaxing of previous safeguards to animal movement during the rising tide of animal movement across state and national borders. What steps will be taken to assess these new risks faced by pork producers? How will we identify and manage these new risks? What health strategies will be implemented to help US pork producers maximize today’s opportunities?

What does a debt-ridden mammoth government hell-bent on downsizing have to offer the pork industry of today? Specifically, what role do APHIS veterinarians play? APHIS if a forward thinking agency that has fostered a spirit of renewed customer focus and has forged ahead in developing new ways of serving industry and the public. A specific manifestation of this is the development of the Centers for Epidemiology and Animal Health (CEAH) and the National Animal Health Monitoring System (NAHMS).

One of the key players in answering the above questions is the public veterinary practitioner. Public veterinary practice can be thought of as an extension of the recent evolution of veterinary medicine from one of animal health to production practice. Many veterinarians have switched their focus from the health of individual animals to addressing production issues. Performance has taken precedence over pathology. The pool of knowledge drawn from by these herd health consultants has expanded beyond that provided by the basic sciences alone. They also draw on knowledge from the areas of production science and herd health e.g. housing, nutrition, genetics.

Likewise, a new tier of veterinary medicine has emerged where the focus has been broadened to the improvement of the industry (VS animal health or herd productivity). Medical problem solving at this level relies on such disciplines as epidemiology, economics, and systems science. Some of the tools used by public veterinary practitioners include disease investigations of epidemics and new emerging diseases; risk assessments; epidemiological studies to elucidate the natural history of certain pathogens; and medical surveillance.

Basic veterinary medicine starts with observation of individual animals for clinical signs. Similarly, production medicine requires adequate records to monitor the herd and identify problems. In the same way, public veterinary practitioners survey populations in order to assess health trends and mark improvement in the health and productivity of the industry.

This is the precise reason for the formation and existence of the NAHMS program. As mentioned by Dr. Ian Garnder, an epidemiologist from UC-Davis, at the French-Japan Workshop in Epidemiology held in Tokyo last fall:

Epidemiologic research and surveillance/monitoring of the health, productivity and welfare of the US swine herd is done by a diverse range of groups including universities, private companies, states and federal governments, and producer organizations. The objectives and outputs from such programs are diverse, as are the methods of data collection. Of greatest potential national significance is the National Animal Health Monitoring System (NAHMS), an initiative of the United States Department of Agriculture:Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service:Veterinary Services (USDA:APHIS:VS), and the focus of this presentation.

 

A multi-disciplinary team of 15 professionals oversees the NAHMS program at APHIS’s Centers for Epidemiology and Animal Health in Fort Collins, CO. NAHMS is an integrated national surveillance system which collects data on disease incidence and prevalence, mortality, frequency of management practices, and disease costs. Surveillance activities rely on collaboration with government agencies, universities, diagnostic laboratories, private veterinary practitioners, and producer organizations.

 

The above vision is already a reality borne out in the NAHMS Swine ‘95 studies. Two national observational studies were conducted in 1995: the Swine ‘95 Baseline study and the Swine ‘95: Grower/Finisher study. These studies began with a great deal of collaboration two years ago with a needs assessment phase involving producers, NPPC, practitioners and American Association of Swine Practitioners (AASP), University researchers, Extension, APHIS, ARS, FSIS, American Meat Institute, and others. The resultant studies were implemented in the top 16 swine states which represent 82% of the US pork producers and 91% of the US hog inventory.

The Swine ‘95: Baseline study provides a snapshot of the US pork industry by obtaining national estimates of current management practices, swine health, and productivity. This information is useful to describe current status of the US pork industry, identify trends, and assess relationships between management and health.

A descriptive tabular summary of data collected in this study has already been released in Swine ‘95 Part I: Reference of 1995 Swine Management Practices. Some of the data has been released as a focused narrative in several fact sheets including:

Environmental practices/management by US pork producers

Trends in biosecurity measures of pork producers

Trends in vaccination practices on US swine operations

Objective information improves decision making and problem solving for producers, practitioners, pharmaceutical companies, researchers, and others. Therefore, wide dissemination of information derived from the Swine ‘95: Baseline study is important. Much of the information from the study already has been published in magazines serving these groups such as Swine Practitioner, Swine Health and Production, DVM News Magazine, National Hog Farmer, Pork ‘96, Hogs Today, Feedstuffs and many others.

The Swine ‘95: Grower/Finisher study is a more focused study conducted on farm. Biological samples are collected along with management information. The descriptive tabular summary of this study will be released in May as Swine ‘95 Part II: Reference of 1995 Grower/Finisher Health and Management practices in the US. A fact sheet on Antibiotic Usage in Pre-Market Swine has been released. Other planned fact sheets include:

Feed Management by US pork producers

Marketing finisher pigs in the US

Sources of pigs entering the Grower/Finisher phase on US swine operations

Mycotoxin levels in finishing rations

Shedding of Salmonella by late finisher hogs

Seroprevalence of PRRS in the US

Specific objectives of this study are:

1. Describe the shedding of Salmonella in Finishing pigs.

2. How are antibiotics used in feeds for pre-market swine?

3. How do pork producers manage rations fed to grower/finisher pigs?

4. What types of waste management systems are utilized on operations with grower/finishers?

5. What management practices are employed to improve product quality?

6. What marketing/transportation schemes are utilized for grower/finisher pigs?

7. What disease prevention methods are employed on operations with grower/finishers?

8. What management factors affect seroprevalence of PRRS, Toxoplasma, Trichinae, and other swine pathogens?

Basic information regarding these objectives have been or soon will be released. More in depth study of these issues is planned by various researchers across North America. Use of surveillance data collected in the Swine ‘95 studies also occurs through specific requests for information from many segments of the pork chain.

The NAHMS Swine ‘95 study illustrates the role of epidemiology and surveillance in new government and industry health strategies. The improvement of the pork industry by public veterinary practitioners begins and ends with coordinated and integrated surveillance systems driven by collaborative relationships with users.