Project Overview
Intestinal parasites can negatively impact the growth and productivity of pigs, leading to economic losses for farmers. Timely interventions through monitoring minimize the impact of parasites on feed efficiency and growth rates in pigs with outdoor access.
Certain pig intestinal parasites may have zoonotic potential, posing a risk to human health, especially if produce is fertilized with contaminated pig manure, or if the garden is watered with contaminated water. It is important to highlight, though, that most of the pig intestinal parasites are not transmitted to human by consumption of pork!
Therefore, the objective of this project is to investigate the occurrence of intestinal parasites of pigs raised with outdoor access in farms located in Ohio and surrounding states. This project will help producers to better understand the intestinal health status of their pigs in relation to parasites and adopt practices to control the level of parasite infection in their pigs, as well as diminish the risk of contamination of produce and parasite transmission to humans.
Preliminary Results
We have preliminary results for this project. Please see the 2025 eBarns Report (pages 94-95)for the most recent data!
Additionally, the 2024 eBarns Report shows initial data on pages 70-71. Stay tuned for future publications!
Pastured Pig Podcast Episode
Troy McClung received Kara and Dr. Resende for a very fun and informative episode about the project in the podcast chanel Pastured Pig.
Listen now on PodBean or Spotify, or watch now on YouTube