From 1985 to 2010, global pork production increased by more than 80%. These changes to production scale have been accompanied by modifications to production systems. The transformations experienced by the industry raise concerns regarding the risk of emergence of new pathogens, which could drastically impact not only on pig health and welfare, but also on human health. The aim of this study was to assess the diversity of new swine pathogens that have been detected since 1985, and the spatio-temporal trend of these emergences.