VIDO Swine Technical Group Launches On-line Disease Database

February 28, 2006 (Saskatoon, Sask.) – The Swine Disease Matrix, a web-based tool for swine producers enabling quick access to disease management information, is now available from the Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization website at www.vido.org/swinematrix.

The Matrix was unveiled at the recent Banff Pork Seminar by Lee Whittington, chair of the VIDO Swine Technical Group (VSTG) that developed the tool. The Matrix provides detailed information from credible sources including scientific journals, proceedings, and technical papers.

“The Swine Disease Matrix makes information available that is current and accurate,” said Whittington, Information Services Manager at Saskatoon’s Prairie Swine Centre, an affiliate of the University of Saskatchewan.

“To have a successful livestock business, you need the ability to access emerging management information.”

Topics found in the Matrix include economically important diseases with six major areas of concern including understanding the diseases, environmental controls, nutrition, pig management, prevention and treatment of disease, and economics. New content is added continuously, and new features will be added over the coming months.

“The Matrix is not at all meant to replace the relationship producers have with their veterinarians,” said Dr. Phil Willson, senior scientist at VIDO and member of the VSTG. “However, it can make time with a veterinarian more meaningful, or answer questions a producer may have after talking with a vet.”

A similar project targeting the beef industry is underway, and database tools for additional industries are under discussion. Most resources developed by both the VSTG and the VIDO Beef Technical Group (VBTG) are freely available from the VIDO Web site (www.vido.org).

The VSTG was formed in 1980 and is composed of industry representatives including producers, veterinarians, agricultural economists, agricultural engineers, nutritionists, farm extension workers and VIDO research scientists.

Current supporters and funders of the two groups include: Alberta Livestock Industry Development Fund (ALIDF); Alberta Beef Producers; Alberta Pork; B.C. Pork; British Columbia Hog Marketing Commission; British Columbia Cattlemen’s Association; the Canadian Research Network on Bacterial Pathogens of Swine; InterVet Canada Ltd.; Manitoba Cattle Producers Association; Manitoba Pork Council; Novartis; Ontario Cattlemen’s Association; Ontario Pork; Pfizer Animal Health; Sask Pork; Saskatchewan Agriculture and Food; Saskatchewan Cattle Marketing Deductions Fund; Saskatchewan Horned Cattle Trust Fund; and Schering-Plough Animal Health; all of whom continue to offer their support and advocacy.

The University of Saskatchewan’s Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization is a world leader in the research and development of vaccine and immunotherapeutic technologies for livestock and humans.

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For more information:

Mr. Lee Whittington, MBA

Manager, Information Services

Prairie Swine Centre

Chair, VSTG

(306) 667-7447

lee.whittington@usask.ca

Dr. Phil Willson, DVM, PhD

Senior Scientist, VIDO

VSTG Facilitator

(306) 966-7480

philip.willson@usask.ca