Lincoln Startup's Swine Disease Technology Moves From Nebraska Lab to Commercial Farms
DARO's non-invasive surveillance method detected PRRSV nearly four days earlier than conventional testing in a commercial comparison.
A disease surveillance technology developed in a Lincoln laboratory is helping commercial swine operations identify infections earlier, giving veterinarians and producers more time to make decisions that could limit the spread of disease.
The technology comes from DARO, a Nebraska animal health startup founded by scientist Kristen Bernhard. The company has developed a non-invasive environmental sampling method designed to detect pathogens across swine populations without collecting samples from individual animals.
In a commercial comparison involving 11 nursery rooms, DARO detected porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) before conventional oral-fluid testing in every room, with an average detection advantage of 3.91 days.
That difference can matter when pigs are scheduled to move between production sites.
At a commercial gilt development site in Kansas, routine oral-fluid testing returned a negative PRRSV result while DARO's environmental surveillance detected the virus. With animals scheduled to ship later that week, the operation stopped the movement and conducted additional testing, which confirmed the infection.
The decision prevented potentially infected animals from being transported to other farms.
“Even before you know exactly what action you're going to take, you have something you didn't have before: time,” Bernhard said.
PRRSV remains a significant animal health challenge for the swine industry, causing reproductive losses and respiratory illness. Earlier identification can give veterinary teams an opportunity to adjust animal movements, increase monitoring or conduct additional testing before infection spreads.
DARO's approach is designed to complement existing diagnostic methods. Instead of drawing blood from individual pigs or relying on animals to interact with oral-fluid collection ropes, barn employees walk through pens wearing specialized shoe covers that collect biological material from the environment. Samples are then sent to DARO's Lincoln laboratory for molecular testing.
The process gives veterinarians another way to monitor pathogen presence across swine populations while fitting into existing farm routines.
Building an Animal Health Company in Nebraska
Bernhard developed the concept for DARO after working in human pathogen genomics and recognizing the potential to use environmental information to monitor disease across livestock populations.
Turning that concept into a commercial company began in Nebraska. A business plan developed in fall 2023 helped DARO secure approximately $500,000 across two phases of Nebraska Academic R&D funding. Bernhard began establishing the company's Lincoln laboratory in early 2024.
As DARO began working with commercial swine operations, the company refined its collection methods, laboratory processes and reporting to better meet the needs of veterinarians and producers.
“Probably one of the biggest lessons is that great science does not automatically equal a great product,” Bernhard said.
DARO also received early support through The Combine, an agricultural technology incubator powered by Invest Nebraska. The program connected Bernhard with mentors, industry contacts and commercialization resources as she worked to bring the technology into commercial use.
One of those connections became a business partnership. Josh DeMers, formerly The Combine's program director, worked with Bernhard during DARO's early development and later joined the company as co-founder and chief operating officer.
“I believed in what she was building, and I wanted to help build it with her,” DeMers said.
DARO has since graduated from The Combine's incubator. In September, the company announced a $2.5 million funding round to expand its laboratory capacity, strengthen its surveillance platform and support broader adoption across the U.S. swine industry.
For Bernhard, building the company in Nebraska has kept DARO close to the livestock producers and veterinarians whose experience helps shape its technology.
“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.”
While earlier detection cannot guarantee that an outbreak will be prevented, DARO's commercial work illustrates how additional surveillance information can influence decisions before animals move between farms.
“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.”
About DARO
DARO is a Lincoln, Nebraska-based animal health company developing non-invasive molecular pathogen surveillance for commercial swine production. Through environmental sampling and laboratory testing, the company helps veterinarians and producers identify pathogens across herds and make more informed animal health decisions.
Website: usedaro.com
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