14 April 2025

5 minute read

By: Zoetis

Key takeaways

• STOMP PLUS® from Zoetis is a unique comprehensive diagnostic service focused on helping producers and veterinarians identify and monitor specific pathogens responsible for disease outbreaks.

• It includes a diagnostic plan, analysis and diagnostic interpretation, and highly visual summary reports — all supported by the Zoetis Technical Services team.

• Mhp Guardian is the industry’s first comprehensive Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae (Mhp) management program that helps move herds into a negative or more stable status and helps keep them there. STOMP PLUS is a key component of Mhp Guardian.

What is STOMP PLUS and how can pork producers and veterinarians utilize it?

STOMP PLUS from Zoetis is a unique comprehensive diagnostic service focused on helping producers and veterinarians identify and monitor specific pathogens responsible for disease outbreaks. It also helps support veterinarians by providing evidence-based rationale for responsible use of antibiotics. Our entire STOMP PLUS program is supported and managed by the Zoetis Technical Services team, a team that’s uniquely qualified in this area with decades of experience and expertise.

How does a producer get started?

We believe that diagnostics should not be a fishing expedition. So, we start by building and establishing a specific question that a producer or veterinarian needs answered, which helps guide the development of a targeted diagnostic sampling plan with the goal of answering that specific question. From there, we’ll coordinate with Iowa State University, University of Minnesota or the diagnostic lab of your choice to run the assays and pay for them.

If you need help with collecting the samples or training service personnel to collect samples, we can assist with that too. Once the results are available, the Zoetis Technical Services team will help you interpret them and identify disease patterns, trends and disease-state classifications of farms or groups of pigs. Then we’ll develop highly visual diagnostic summary reports that are easy to understand for all the stakeholders and decision-makers.

How is this service different from what other health companies offer?

Typically, other companies are only paying for the diagnostic tests. STOMP PLUS is much more than just free diagnostics. Paying for diagnostics has become table stakes for any animal health company today. Three pillars differentiate Zoetis’ STOMP PLUS:

• A diagnostic plan
• Expert analysis and consultative interpretation
• Highly visual summary reports in a single report

Our team is dedicated to optimizing the way veterinarians manage herd health, allowing them to focus on what truly matters — communicating vital information to producers and making informed decisions. By streamlining the data collection and preparation processes, we aim to reduce the time spent on administrative tasks, so veterinarians are able to spend less time preparing and more time communicating the herd health story.

Can you explain the Mhp Guardian program and when STOMP PLUS is utilized within the program?

Mhp Guardian is the industry’s first comprehensive Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae (Mhp) management program that helps move herds into a negative or more stable status and helps keep them there. It’s a personalized, customized approach for every customer that’s built around four key steps. Three of these steps require diagnostic support, which is where STOMP PLUS comes into play.

Step 1 is establishing herd status. To understand this, we explore two specific diagnostic questions:

• What is the extent of Mhp in the replacement field population and the breeding herd?
• Does replacement gilt status match the breeding herd status?

Our recommended diagnostic plan is to collect tracheal swabs from at least 80 animals. We recommend:

• 30 replacement gilts, either just before shipping out of the GDU or less than one week after arrival to the sow farm.
• At least 50 breeding herd samples typically split between P0 late gestation gilts, P1 sows and P2+ sows.

Once samples are collected, we recommend pooling samples by five within parity groups for Mhp PCR testing at the diagnostic lab. The following chart is an example of the visual summary chart that would be created with the diagnostic results. The x-axis shows sample pools labeled by parity. The y-axis shows Mhp PCR Ct values. The green bars are negative pools. Orange and blue bars are positive pools, with orange being Ct values above 30 and blue being Ct values less than 30.

These results are typical of what we would see in an Mhp-positive sow herd that receives Mhp-negative gilts. The gestating P0 gilts are highly positive going into farrowing and until lactation, while the mature breeding herd (P1 and P2+) have generally become Mhp-negative. This herd would be classified as an Mhp uncontrolled positive herd that is likely producing groups of Mhp-positive weaned pigs.

Within Mhp Guardian, what other steps involve STOMP PLUS?

There are two additional steps after Step 1 that also utilize STOMP PLUS. Step 3 involves implementing intervention strategies and Step 4 is monitoring those intervention outcomes.

An example of how STOMP PLUS fits into Step 3 is determining optimal timing of a control intervention for Mhp control. To properly time a medication pulse, for example, the diagnostic question that must be answered is: “When are most pigs becoming infected with Mhp?”

In Step 4, an intervention strategy has been implemented and the goal is to ensure a successful outcome. An example of this would be post-Mhp elimination for which the specific diagnostic questions would be: “Can we confirm that the elimination was successful? Are our incoming Mhp gilts remaining Mhp-negative?”

What do you want producers to remember when it comes to STOMP PLUS?

The most important thing to remember is that STOMP PLUS is so much more than covering the cost of diagnostic. It also includes robust diagnostic sampling plans, analysis, interpretation and summary of the results. Plus, you’ll also receive the support of one of the most experienced Technical Services teams in the industry.