Farmscape for October 8, 2025

The addition of E. coli PCR genotyping to the Swine Health Information Center's monthly domestic swine disease monitoring report offers pork producers and their veterinarians a new tool to help keep this infection out of their barns.
E. coli is a significant pathogen in swine, most frequently associated with neonatal and post-weaning diarrhea and it ranks as the 5th most prioritized and clinically important bacterium for the U.S. pork industry, second only by a narrow margin to Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae.
In its September eNewsletter E. coli PCR genotyping was added to the Swine Health Information Center funded domestic swine disease monitoring report offering producers, veterinarians, and researchers access to real-time surveillance data on the pathogen.
SHIC Associate Director Dr. Lisa Becton says E. coli is one of the most important and complex pathogens affecting pigs today.

Quote-Dr. Lisa Becton-Swine Health Information Center:
E. coli is a significant challenge both in farrowing and nursery for pigs and so, because of that, it really is important to be able to understand what strains of bacteria are identified on farm and causing problems, what are some of the other genetic characteristics that can lead to virulence as well as understanding how can some of these changes also impact things like response to antimicrobials so having this information is very important.
It assesses by PCR the genotype trends, the main virotype and pathotypes and it can also provide information to producers and their veterinarians for how to control these on farm and lead to different strategies for management.

The Swine Health Information Center's domestic and global swine disease monitoring reports along with other swine health information can be accessed through SHIC's web site at swinehealth.org.
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Bruce Cochrane.

       *Farmscape is produced on behalf of North America’s pork producers