UniSC Associate Professor in Molecular Engineering Dr Joanne Macdonald is developing a rapid-testing system to allow farmers to quickly diagnose and limit the spread of common pig diseases – potentially saving thousands of dollars on vet bills, feed and lost stock.
“It can take two weeks to diagnose a sick pig under the current system. During that time the disease can spread, putting the animals under stress as well as hindering their weight gain,” Dr Macdonald said.
“Our on-site testing system allows farmers to actively monitor and detect diseases early – before it spreads – while only taking an hour to return a result.
“We estimate potential savings of up to $28,000 annually for a 2,000-sow farm.”
Dr Macdonald said the PCR (polymerase chain reaction) test would be used on stool samples collected from pig pens by farmers. The samples would be prepared in a special solution that allowed them to be tested in a machine on-site.
“Currently this is done in a laboratory using a lengthy and complicated process,” she said.
“Our system will be quick, easy-to-use, and will be paired with existing farm data software so producers can see the real-time value of reduced costs and getting pigs to market quicker.
“This funding means we can begin trials at piggeries in the Sunshine Coast and Darling Downs regions of Queensland in the coming months, with a view to expand to demonstration farms in Western Australia and South Australia.”
The one-year project has received $477,463 under the Federal Government’s Australia’s Economic Accelerator (AEA) Ignite program, which supports “nationally significant research and commercialisation projects”.
The project will include Australian start-up BioCifer which has commercialised the technology with UniSC, and use testing machines from Australian biotechnology manufacturing company Bio Molecular Systems.
Any Australian piggeries interested in taking part in the research, can contact Dr Macdonald.
Media enquiries: Please contact the Media Team media@usc.edu.au