History of the group’s activities and its outcomes: Rationale for renewing this project for the period 2019-2024

When started in 1999, the newly formed NC 229 Multistate Committee first addressed the topic “Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Disease Syndrome: Methods for the integrated control, prevention and elimination of PRRS in United States Swine Herds”. Since its very onset, the group has used a novel "consortium" approach to pursue stakeholder-driven major scientific goals on the virology, immunology, epidemiology, diagnostics and control of PRRSV, combining National Pork Board (NPB), industry and USDA funds.

Close to a decade later (on November 2008, on its way to this NC project’s third renewal), the NC 229 Committee was awarded the first annual Experiment Station Award for Excellence in Multistate Research by the Experiment Station Committee On Organization And Policy, conferred by The Board on Agriculture Assembly, of the National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges. The NC229 committee was commended because it has been a model of multistate collaboration between institutions, working with stakeholders and providing leadership in partnering with private organizations such as swine breeding companies, diagnostic and vaccine companies and the National Pork Board. (sic)  Typically this committee has been continuously very connected to stakeholders in the swine industry and stakeholder concerns are consistently addressed in the objectives of this project. The main reasons for such noteworthy distinction can be summarized as follows:

Throughout its existence, the NC-229 Multistate Committee has consisted of an important body of researchers that provides a forum for discussion and think-tank capabilities essential to coordinate strategies towards the control of PRRS and other major emerging diseases of swine, for example:

1. The NC-229 group of researchers has been the main driving force for the preparation and successful award of an initial USDA’s Coordinated Agricultural Project (CAP) in 2004-2008, which, following its renewal in 2010, led to the overall record achievement of almost $10 million dollars available for research, extension and education in PRRS and related diseases. The extraordinary significance of the NC-229-originated PRRS CAPs I and II , becomes clearly evident when it is taken into account that, combined with Check off funding provided by swine industry (NPB), brought a total dedicated to PRRS research to more than $34 million dollars distributed for creative research and extension within the last 19 years.

2. The NC-229 scientific meetings offered the appropriate forum and the foundation for the organization of an Annual PRRS Scientific Symposium that, although initiated first at a national level, grew to become a yearly event of major international scope known as the North American PRRSV Symposium. Such Symposium soon became also international in nature with two off-US venues already held in Asia, the first in 2013 and most recently 2018. To this end, the basic scientific organizational capacity of NC-229 was energized and materialized thanks to the financial backing secured through the CAP funds and later continued through support received from the swine, pharmaceutical and biologics related industries, to an extent such that in the most recent several years the NA PRRS Symposium became an event independent from NC229 and fully self-sustained at an exemplary level.

3. Since 2009, the NC-229 group expanded its goals beyond the topic of PRRSV to include other important swine emerging diseases. These additional important topics became an integral part of the program of annual symposiums of the NC-229 group, and proved to be of critical importance for those moments requiring making critical decisions, such as the successful realization that porcine circovirus associated diseases (PCVAD) can be controlled by effective vaccination, the identification/characterization of swine influenza isolates of importance to public health, and later on, the identification and quick adoption of diagnostic tools and appropriate disease management know-how in order to face the ongoing outbreak of porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV) in May 2013.

As an important spin-off of the increased awareness and expanded know-how on overall emerging swine diseases promoted by the scientific activity of NC229 group throughout the years, a very significant development took place in 2015 [during the lifespan of the ongoing NC229 project (2014-2019)] : the creation of The Swine Health Information Center (SHIC). Located in Des Moines Iowa the SHIC responds to a board of directors that represents the major commodity and swine practitioner organizations: NPPC and NPB as well as the AASV plus swine producers at large. The virtual initiator and current SHIC executive director is Dr. Paul Sundberg. The mission of SHIC is to protect and enhance the health of the United States swine herd through analysis of swine health data that would lead to coordinated global disease monitoring, preparedness and response. In other words the SHIC provides a systematic platform to approach the major viral disease threats affecting swine industry. Central to the preparedness proposed by the SHIC is the swine viral disease matrix developed by the SHIC. (see appendix A under attachments to this project). Such matrix is a dynamic and continuously updated list of major swine viral diseases ranked on average risk score based on 3 main criteria: 1) Likelihood of entry in the US 2) Economic effects on production post entry and 3) Effects on domestic and international markets. Undoubtedly, the research outcomes contributed by the NC229 community since its creation in 1999 have been central to the development of the SHIC swine viral disease matrix.  Likewise, such important tool should then constitute the actual road map for research work for the upcoming NC229 project for the next five years (2019-2024) which will be key for fulfillment of supreme goals set by SHIC for the swine industry: “monitoring, preparedness and response” (6). 

Significance of the diseases we propose to study following the SHIC Swine Viral Disease Matrix:  

The overriding economic importance of PRRSV to North American agriculture, plus the significance of other emerging diseases represented for example by the permanent concern posed by swine influenza, the actual domestic threat presented by PEDV and other swine enteric coronavirues (SEDCV) or the very serious hazard represented by the presence of ASFV at the very doors of Europe and the Western Hemisphere while simultaneously expanding east bound in Asia thus threatening to become a globally expended disease (7), justify the continuation of this NC-229 multistate project. The intriguing and complex field of emerging viral diseases of swine surging and expanding in a planet with an ever-globalized economy does not allow us to let our guard down. Therefore, the designation of Detection and Control of Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome Virus and Emerging Viral Diseases of Swine continues to be very current and appropriate for this project.

The need as indicated by stakeholders:

PRRS continues to be the most devastating disease of swine in the USA . While important advances have been achieved in control of this disease, some important obstacles still exist due to the unique immuno-pathogenic characteristics of this virus(5).  At the time the NC-229 2009 renewal, the swine industry remained burdened with the staggering $560-million price tag for production losses associated with PRRS calculated in 2005(3). In 2013, a more comprehensive and by now broadly accepted (and extensively cited) study (2) estimated that the total PRRSV tab to the industry was at $664 million annually, based on a review of production records from 80 breeding herds and grower pig closeout data on more than 600 groups of pigs over the past 3-5 years. Most importantly, the most current analyses also include expert opinions from more than 26 swine veterinarians who provide services to 2.4 million U.S. sows, which roughly represent 45% of the Nation’s sow herd. In addition, based on these experts opinion survey, animal health costs tack on another $140 million annually due to PRRS. The annual biosecurity and other outbreak-related costs attributed to PRRS were estimated to be $191.86 million and $145.82 million, respectively. Biosecurity costs include installation of air filtration systems, truck washes and other changes to transportation, added showers, changes in pig flow, etc. Total additional costs were pegged at $477.79 million annually, putting the cumulative cost of the disease at more than $1 billion/year when added to production-related losses. In addition, multiple sectorial studies in the US, Europe and Asia have further confirmed that infections by both types of PRRSV of different industry segments sustain the major important detriment of the global swine industry. Since its discovery in 1991, the PRRS virus has proven itself as a significant pathogen of swine in nearly all production areas of the world  (1). In 2006 it became apparent that strains of extraordinary virulence had surfaced in China, causing a major blow to the world’s largest swine herd. This threat and the general concern about virulence exacerbation by intense genome mutations in the field has reemphasized the need for effective PRRS control and the importance of finding predictably successful tools for managing or eliminating the virus from farms. The NPB, for the last 16 years, has been engaged in PRRSV area control and elimination efforts through research and education efforts that support and continue to develop tools and strategies to better manage the virus. The Swine Health Committee of the NPB has developed the following statement to help guide PRRS research and outreach efforts: By 2020, the National pork Board will deploy tools and programs to decrease the annual economic impact of PRRS by 20 percent, as adjusted for inflation and measured against the 2012 PRRS economic impact baseline study :

The national priorities for swine health research established by NPPC, NPB and American Association of swine Veterinarians (AASV), clearly characterized through the studies periodically released by the SHIC, constitute an accurate gauge of the stakeholder needs in the area of other important emerging diseases of swine of interest for the NC-229 committee. The NPB has announced, that there is an extreme need to assess the interspecies transfer of influenza virus (human to pig and vice-versa) and to assess the impact of vaccine interventions, such as vaccine use in people and pigs on the curtailment of transmission of influenza in farms and in exhibition settings and other points of concentration, with special emphasis on strategies to immunize young piglets that would circumvent the blocking caused by maternal antibodies(4). The NPB, and the AASV, backed by USDA/ APHIS have been following up the PEDV epizootics literally since the emergence of the index case and substantial emergency funds to support the most immediate needs in research have already been made available. Since then much has been learned about PEDV and other swine enteric coronaviruses in a relatively short amount of time. Additional questions remain about gilt development, potential long term effects of exposure and why some herds break back to active infection following a period of stability(4) . Regarding swine FAD particularly remarkable are the initiatives taken by stakeholders though NPB, SHIC  and USDA continuously since 2012 to respond to the threat posed by the extensive dissemination through Eastern Europe and China of African Swine Fever Virus (ASFV), The ASFV is considered by the US swine industry to be a major threat, to the point that the NPB and the competitive programs of USDA-AFRI, in a notable turning point, have been consistently funding projects based in local universities and other US academic laboratories associated with NC-229 in order to conduct investigations in this foreign disease. In the case of ASFV, the most recent priorities established by the US swine industry include  diagnaotics, disease mitigation, biosecurity, disinfection, and feed risk (4).

The technical feasibility of the research:

Successful realization of the study objectives requires basic and applied research studies, including immunology, functional genomics, epidemiology, genetics, and molecular biology. Within this framework, NC-229 has the capacity to coordinate ideas and resources, focus on specific problems and projects, and respond immediately to new information related to virus control and elimination. It has also provided a method of dissemination through coordinated national and international meeting forums. A well-documented record of such capacity of the group is represented by having attained and successfully managed two major CAP grants in PRRS and contributed to major international symposia in the US and overseas. This achievement attests to the expert technical know-how of the group. A remarkable spin off of the seminal funding obtained through the CAPs and post-CAPs federal and commodity group funding is represented by the continuous utilization by the group of CAP-generated results to amplify and leverage further funding through USDA NIFA competitive grants, NPB research grant program and industry funds.

The advantages of a multi-state research effort:

The NPB, NC-229 and other swine health experts have concluded that effective control of swine viruses will not rely on a single technology or solution, but on multiple strategies applied to all levels in the swine production system. While there is much expertise available from single entities, the best hope for the control and elimination of PRRSV and swine viral infections is a collaborative, multidisciplinary research program that focuses on specific aspects of the diseases. Progressively since 2008,  the NC-229 has been expanded to 14 stations (CT, GA, IA, IL, KS, MD, MO, MN, NC, NE, OH, IN, SD, and VA), 3 ARS labs (USDA-BARC, USDA-MARC, USDA-NADC), and importantly, international groups in China, Cuba, Russia, Mexico and Spain.

Likely impact of successfully completing the work: 

The greatest impact of the successful conclusion of this research will be new paradigms for the control of PRRS and other swine viral emerging diseases. Progress toward this goal will proceed through the successful accomplishment of specific aims and milestones described later in this proposal. The creation and operation of a virtual university environment where investigators share data and ideas has been effected by the previous PRRS CAP programs. A major milestone for this NC229 renewal will be to expand this network to address the real industry problem of complex swine viral diseases. A second milestone will be risk assessment projects that will demonstrate new protocols and management techniques for the control and elimination from the US Having multiple stations and researchers involved, will provide expertise in the vast array of viral diseases where knowledge in one area may translate to control in another. Therefore, not only is the NC229 consortium a multi-state multi-country multi-university group, but also a multi-pathogen related group. Communication across these collaborations will help in not only helping solve the current infectious disease problems, but also in being ready for the next emerging disease.

1. Benfield, D. A., E. Nelson, J. E. Collins, L. Harris, S. M. Goyal, D. Robison, W. T. Christianson, R. B. Morrison, D. Gorcyca, and D. Chladek. 1992. Characterization of swine infertility and respiratory syndrome (SIRS) virus (isolate ATCC VR-2332). J Vet Diagn Invest 4:127-33.


2. Holtkamp, D. J., J. B. Kliebenstein, and Collab. 2013. Assessment of the economic impact of porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus on United States pork producers. . J. Swine Health Prod. 21:72-84.


3. Neumann, E. J., J. B. Kliebenstein, C. D. Johnson, J. W. Mabry, E. J. Bush, A. H. Seitzinger, A. L. Green, and J. J. Zimmerman. 2005. Assessment of the economic impact of porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome on swine production in the United States. J Am Vet Med Assoc 227:385-92.


4. PorkCheckoff.b. 2018. Request for Proposals Swine Health -General Call – 2019. https://www.pork.org/rfp/#generalcall.


5. Rowland, R. R., and R. B. Morrison. 2012. Challenges and opportunities for the control and elimination of porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus. Transbound Emerg Dis 59 Suppl 1:55-9.


6. SHIC.a. 2018. Swine Health Information Center Progress Report 2017. https://www.swinehealth.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/2017-Progress-Report.pdf.


7. SHIC.b. 2018. U.S. Pork Response African Swine Fever Prevention (September 10 2018). https://www.swinehealth.org/us-pork-response-asf-prevention/.