UF Researchers Use AI Datasets To Track Feral Pigs, Minimize Disease Risk
Feral pigs cost the agriculture industry at least $1.5 billion in damage, disease and control costs around the United States annually, running rampant on large swaths of grazing lands. The swine root in soil and eat most everything in sight.
Farmers and ranchers will benefit from research by University of Florida scientists who are using artificial intelligence to gather data on feral hog reproduction and movement.
As they roam grazing land, feral swine carry pathogens that cause multiple diseases in cattle, like Brucella. Other pathogens, like foot-and-mouth disease, are not present in the United States, but wild pigs have the ability to transmit these foreign animal diseases.
“If a foreign animal disease became established in wild pigs in the United States, it would devastate the commercial swine and cattle industry. These foreign diseases are pathogens not found in the United States, but because of the severity of disease and high contagiousness, infected cattle or swine are culled. It would be nearly impossible to rid ourselves of a foreign animal disease if it became established in wild pigs,” said Samantha Wisely, a UF/IFAS professor of wildlife ecology and conservation. “Wild pigs also cause millions of dollars a year to cattlemen in lost forage and degraded pastures.”
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