Descriptive and risk analysis of vehicle movements linked to porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome and porcine epidemic diarrhea transmission in U.S. commercial swine farms

Vehicle movements, including cabs and trailers, play a role in the spread of swine diseases. However, significant information gaps remain regarding vehicle movement patterns and their role in disease transmission, which, if uncovered, could improve preventive strategies. In this study, we described the movement patterns of vehicle cabs and trailers and identified vehicle-mediated factors associated with porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS) and porcine epidemic diarrhea (PED) farms. We collected global positioning system (GPS) movement data from vehicle cabs and trailers for 18 months, along with infection information for 6621 commercial swine farms in the U.S. For the vehicle movement data, we calculated 66 variables and evaluated their association with sow farms' PRRS and PED status. Our univariate analysis identified 56 variables that were significantly associated with PRRS and PED farm status (p