Activities and Collaboration

There are strong ties to a number of collegiate and university programs including the Swine Center, Animal Biotechnology Center (ABC) and MN Cert. The Center is different in its focus from these other units, but maintains strong collaborative ties. The Center has strong ties with the MNCert initiative by providing and validating standard operating procedures (SOP's) for the associated farms. The Center also develops the monitoring strategies needed for disease-free certification for these farms.

The Center collaborates closely with the Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory and the ABC in the development and validation of molecular diagnostics for the target organisms. It also develops and validates statistically accurate sampling techniques, as well as collaborates in the development of software to analyze diagnostic results from large monitoring samples. The Center has strong ties with the Minnesota Pork Producers Association (MPPA) by providing individual, on-farm eradication strategies. In contrast to other groups working in this area, the Center develops strategies for disease eradication for individual commercial herds, instead of focusing exclusively in seedstock or large integrator herds. Lastly, the Center strengthens the ties that exist between the College of Veterinary Medicine and the state's swine practitioners. By providing individual herd eradication strategies, appropriate sampling techniques, computerized analysis, as well as a continuous referral service, the Center is an important resource for these practitioners.