BioSec Bob here on Friday, July 31, 2026 — let’s dig into what’s moving the needle for you this week.
Starting on the nutrition front, Food Agribusiness is reporting that pig producers are putting feed strategy front and center as a cornerstone of herd resilience. The focus is shifting toward how diet composition directly supports immune function and disease resistance rather than treating nutrition as separate from health management. The reporting shows producers are working with nutritionists to dial in mineral balance, amino acid profiles, and feed additives that shore up gut health and systemic immunity — especially during periods of high stress or when disease pressure is elevated.
Over to the disease side, Pork Business is reporting the swine industry has launched a formal ten-year plan aimed at eliminating PEDV entirely. The initiative brings together major producers, packers, and veterinary groups around coordinated biosecurity standards, vaccination protocols, and real-time diagnostic tracking. The goal is to move beyond managing PEDV as an endemic problem and actually eradicate it from U.S. herds through systematic herd-level and supply-chain interventions.
Staying with disease but taking a step back, News Medical is raising attention to how pork supply chains may be facilitating the global spread of drug-resistant Salmonella. Research shows that international movement of pork products and the way some supply chains operate can create conditions for antibiotic-resistant strains to travel across borders and establish in new regions. The reporting emphasizes that supply-chain design and biosecurity practices on both producing and importing ends play a real role in whether resistant pathogens gain ground internationally.
On the feral swine front, The Pig Site is reporting the USDA is dedicating $35 million toward feral swine control programs. The funding supports removal operations, exclusion infrastructure, and research into prevention methods across affected states. Feral swine populations continue to damage pastures, compete with livestock for feed, and carry diseases that pose risk to domestic herds.
Moving to the international disease watch, Cebu Daily News is reporting that African Swine Fever has been confirmed in domestic hogs in Brgy. Quiot, Cebu in the Philippines, with 19 pigs culled following the discovery. The outbreak adds to ongoing ASF pressure in Southeast Asia and underscores how quickly the virus moves through densely populated production areas when biosecurity breaks down.
And finally, Champion Newspapers is reporting that Leadway, a major Nigerian agricultural insurance and services firm, is sounding the alarm on African Swine Fever across West Africa and calling on farmers to tighten biosecurity protocols immediately. The warning reflects the persistent risk ASF poses to swine operations in regions without robust containment infrastructure.
That’s your Friday rundown — keep those biosecurity measures sharp this weekend.