Finding Disease Before It Moves: How a Nebraska Startup Is Changing Swine Surveillance
At a gilt development site in Kansas, a group of pigs was scheduled to move to other farms later that week. The routine oral-fluid test for porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) came back negative, suggesting the animals could proceed with their planned shipment.
But a second surveillance method, developed by Lincoln-based animal health startup DARO, detected the virus.
Pipestone, the swine health and production company overseeing the movement, stopped the shipment and conducted additional testing, which confirmed the infection. What could have become a disease transmission event across multiple farms was interrupted before the animals left the site.
“In a normal situation, they would have passed their testing to approve shipment,” said Dr. Cameron Schmitt, Executive Vice President of Pipestone Veterinary Services. “They were slated to ship that week on a Thursday. We would have infected multiple farms if we had not detected it with DARO on that Monday.”
For DARO founder Kristen Bernhard, cases like this are exactly what she hoped to make possible when she began exploring a different approach to livestock disease surveillance. The company wasn't built around the idea of replacing the diagnostic tools veterinarians already trust. It was built around a question: Could producers get a more complete picture of disease across a herd, and could they get it early enough to make a difference?
A Different Way to Look at Disease
Bernhard's background is in human pathogen genomics, where she had seen how population-level surveillance could reveal information that individual testing might miss. She began wondering whether similar principles could be applied to livestock production, where animals continuously leave biological material behind in their environment.
“I started thinking about livestock barns,” Bernhard recalled. “Animals are constantly leaving biological information behind in their environment. What if we could use that information to understand what was happening across the whole population?”
It was a promising idea, but translating it into a reliable diagnostic tool presented challenges. Environmental samples are complex, and finding a pathogen in that material requires highly sensitive laboratory methods. Just as important, the process needed to work in commercial barns without creating another time-consuming task for employees.
DARO's approach is relatively straightforward from the producer's perspective. Barn staff walk through pens wearing specialized shoe covers that collect environmental material. Those samples are sent to DARO's laboratory in Lincoln, where they're processed using molecular testing methods designed to detect pathogens across the population.
The method complements traditional blood and oral-fluid testing, which remain important parts of swine health programs. But unlike blood sampling, it doesn't require handling individual animals, and it doesn't depend on pigs interacting with collection ropes.
The potential advantage is earlier information about what is happening in the barn. In a real-world comparison involving 11 nursery rooms, DARO detected PRRSV before oral-fluid testing in every room, averaging 3.91 days earlier.
For an industry where animals routinely move between production sites, that difference can matter. A positive result may lead to additional testing, closer monitoring or a decision to delay movement. At Pipestone's Kansas site, it meant stopping a shipment that otherwise would have proceeded.
“Even before you know exactly what action you're going to take, you have something you didn't have before: time,” Bernhard said.
Building a Company Around the Science
While the idea behind DARO came from Bernhard's scientific background, turning it into a company required learning an entirely different set of skills.
DARO's early development was supported by approximately $500,000 in Nebraska Academic R&D funding across two phases, following a business plan developed in fall 2023. By early 2024, Bernhard was setting up the company's laboratory, purchasing equipment and beginning the experimental work needed to determine whether the approach could perform reliably.
The real turning point, she said, came when DARO began working with commercial swine operations. The questions shifted from whether the technology worked in a controlled setting to whether it could provide information veterinarians and producers would actually use.
“That's when it stopped being, Can we make this work in the lab? and became, Can this actually help someone?”
Those early customers helped shape the company. Bernhard learned that even the most sensitive diagnostic method has limited value if collecting samples is difficult, results aren't consistent or the information doesn't fit into existing veterinary decisions.
“Probably one of the biggest lessons is that great science does not automatically equal a great product,” she said.
DARO also benefited from an early connection with The Combine, an agricultural entrepreneurship initiative powered by Invest Nebraska. Bernhard joined the program when she had a scientific concept but was still learning how to build a business around it. Through The Combine, she gained access to mentors, industry relationships and people who understood both entrepreneurship and the realities of agriculture.
One of those people was Josh DeMers, who was serving as The Combine's program director at the time.
DeMers remembers Bernhard as someone who was willing to pursue an ambitious idea even when much of the path forward was uncertain. As he worked with her, he saw the company progress from early research toward something with real commercial potential.
Their backgrounds were different, but that became part of the opportunity. Bernhard brought the scientific expertise and vision, while DeMers brought experience in commercialization and business development. Over time, his interest in DARO grew beyond helping advise the company.
“I believed in what she was building, and I wanted to help build it with her,” DeMers said.
He eventually joined DARO as co-founder and chief operating officer. Today, the company has graduated from The Combine's incubator, an outcome that reflects both DARO's progress and the relationships that helped it grow.
Close to the Industry, Focused on What Comes Next
For Bernhard, building DARO in Nebraska has been important not only because of the funding, laboratory infrastructure and entrepreneurial support available, but because it has kept the company connected to the agricultural industry it serves.
“We're building an animal-health company in a place where agriculture isn't theoretical,” she said. “You can sit across the table from producers and veterinarians who live these problems every day.”
That proximity has influenced how DARO approaches its work. Feedback from commercial operations continues to guide improvements to its laboratory processes, quality systems, reporting and customer experience as the company prepares to serve more producers.
Bernhard sees the company's next chapter as an opportunity to make routine, population-level surveillance a more practical part of livestock disease management. Rather than waiting until enough evidence accumulates to suspect a problem, she hopes veterinarians will have access to information that helps them recognize changes earlier.
It's a vision that has grown considerably since DARO's earliest days, when Bernhard was writing grants, purchasing laboratory equipment and asking people to believe in an idea that hadn't yet been proven.
Now, with a team, customers and industry partners contributing to its development, the company is working toward a larger goal.
“The early version of DARO was about proving that an idea could work,” Bernhard said. “Now we're trying to build something that can actually change how an industry sees disease.”
Learn more about DARO at usedaro.com.
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