For Marcello Melini, the role of a veterinarian doesn’t stop at the exam room door. It’s a charge that extends beyond the realm of animal health care and into human health as well. 

When it came to a career path, swine health provided an opportunity for him to make an impact in areas benefiting both people and animals.

“For me, the swine field in veterinary medicine allows me to be involved in several of these areas and also provides an additional challenge, which is making the best decision for a herd based on the evidence of a few,” he says. 

First, as a PhD candidate and now as a postdoc in the laboratory of Cesar Corzo, Leman Chair in Swine Health & Productivity at the University of Minnesota College of Veterinary Medicine, Melini is using research to improve the health of pigs and the people caring for them. 

His research focuses on porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS). This viral disease devastates swine herds by causing reproductive failure, resulting in stillborn births and weak piglets that struggle to survive and are susceptible to deadly respiratory issues. Studies into the economic impact of this disease estimate more than $1 billion in losses per year for the U.S. pork industry. 

Understanding interactions of PRRS virus with its host and the environment is the focus of Melini’s investigation. He is assessing whether the virus can be detected on different surfaces in swine farms, whether the virus is intact on these surfaces, how much of the virus is needed for pigs to become infected, whether this depends on the virus’ classification, and whether different virus variants affect the duration of outbreaks. 

To gather this data, Melini visits swine farms and collects samples either directly from pigs or from the environment inside the barns. The goal is to use these findings to improve biosecurity protocols that better manage the disease or prevent its introduction into herds.

Reducing the disease’s impact on swine herds would benefit not only producers and workers but consumers as well. 

“Because this virus causes high losses to the herd, there is an increased burden on the workers in managing the disease, but also there are fewer available market pigs,” Melini explains. “Fewer market pigs translate to fewer pork products, which can impact the price of certain goods differently.”

The impact of swine diseases on production farms is something Melini has seen firsthand. Before pursuing his PhD at the University of Minnesota (UMN), he earned his veterinary degree from Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala. After graduation, he worked in the swine industry and public sector of Guatemala, managing biosecurity, disease prevention, diagnostics, and field clinics for multiple farm types.

“I felt that I needed to learn more and enhance my critical thinking skills to improve the service I can provide to swine producers,” Melini says. “To accomplish this improvement in field and theory knowledge, I wanted to be at a top institution that has high-level faculty members, and the UMN is this place, especially for swine health.”

At the College of Veterinary Medicine, Melini’s research contributions include projects facilitated through the Morrison Swine Health Monitoring Project and the Swine Disease Eradication Center.