H5N1 Risk to Swine Research Program

About the H5N1 Risk to Swine Research Program

The Swine Health Information Center (SHIC) has partnered with the Foundation for Food & Agriculture Research (FFAR) and the Pork Checkoff to fund a $4 million research program to enhance prevention, preparedness, mitigation and response capabilities for H5N1 influenza in the U.S. swine herd.

As part of SHIC’s strategic mission to respond to emerging disease threats, SHIC monitors disease outbreaks nationally and internationally for their potential risks to the U.S. swine herd. H5N1 influenza is an emerging disease identified as a priority for U.S. pork industry prevention and preparedness due to the growing number of diverse mammalian species susceptible to infection and the unprecedented 2024 H5N1 outbreak impacting U.S. dairy herds.

Historically, H5N1 has been primarily maintained globally in wild migratory birds with outbreaks in commercial poultry operations. A multistate outbreak of H5N1 influenza in dairy cows began on March 25, 2024, in Texas. Whole genome sequencing of the dairy herd isolate identified Eurasian lineage goose/Guangdong clade 2.3.4.4b, genotype B3.13. Since March 2024, the outbreak of H5N1 in U.S. dairy cattle has spread rapidly across hundreds of dairy herds in more than 14 states, affecting lactating cows and causing mastitis, reduced milk production, decreased feed consumption, lethargy and fever. On October 30, 2024, USDA reported the first detection of H5N1 in a pig on a small Oregon backyard farm where pigs were co-housed with poultry and other livestock.

This recent expansion of H5N1 into novel livestock species and resulting in novel clinical presentation warrants the need for a close investigation of this virus and its potential for incursion into U.S. commercial swine herds.