March 25, 2015
Smithfield funds studies on swine health
The Virginia Tech College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (US) and the Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine will be benefiting from a US$1.4 million donation by SmithfieldFood Inc.
The funds are intended to support antibiotic alternatives studies in the institutes which will be examining methods in improving livestock health and production efficiency in swine farming.
The amount will be contributed over three years, funding three projects.
One of the sponsored studies focuses on timely intervention against swine flu and is led by William S. "Terry" Swecker Jr., a professor in the Department of Large Animal Clinical Sciences at the veterinary college.
A second study, headed by Mike Zhang, a professor of biological systems engineering in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, looks into employing recombinant universal vaccines against porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS) which affects reproduction.
Nammalwar "Nathan" Sriranganathan, a professor of biomedical sciences and pathobiology at the veterinary college, leads the third project which studies the viability of creating a recombinant vaccine to control boar taint, an offensive taste or odour that can affect pork obtained from male pigs.