Feds Approve PED Vaccine for Import

Jan 30, 2014

After a meeting with provincial and territorial agricultural ministers, Federal Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz announced Wednesday that the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) will allow veterinarians to import a vaccine from the United States to deal with the pig-killing virus, porcine epidemic diarrhea or PED.

Thursday’s meeting was meant to address the growing concerns of PED. While the iPED + vaccine is new, preliminary studies have shown pigs that receive the vaccine develop antibodies against the virus. Harrisvaccines Inc. based in Ames, Iowa manufactures the vaccine.

PED is a highly contagious virus among swine, which has killed about 1 to 3 million pigs in the United States since last spring. The virus has since spread to Canada. The first confirmed case was found on a farm in Middlesex County, Ont.

“Today’s announcement is another step in the CFIA’s continuous efforts to work with the provinces to prevent PED from spreading in Canada,” Ritz said in a news release.

Government officials say that pig farmers should contact their attending veterinarian about accessing the vaccine. Veterinarians can apply for an import permit immediately.

Video: Intrauterine Vaccines in Swine - Dr. Heather Wilson

In this episode of The Swine it Podcast Show Canada, Dr. Heather Wilson from VIDO at the University of Saskatchewan explains how intrauterine vaccination is being developed as a new option for swine health. She shares how formulation, adjuvants, and delivery methods influence immune responses and what early trials reveal about safety and reproductive performance. Listen now on all major platforms.

"The idea was that an intrauterine vaccine might avoid a tolerance response and instead create an active immune response."

Meet the guest: Dr. Heather Wilson / heather-wilson-a8043641 is a Senior Scientist and Program Manager at the Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization at the University of Saskatchewan. Her work centers on vaccine formulation and delivery in pigs, including the development of intrauterine vaccination to support reproductive health and passive protection of piglets. Her background spans biochemistry, immunology, and functional pathogenomics.