Recent swine disease outbreaks in Manitoba and China serve as a reminder that the industry should keep biosecurity top of mind
By Kate Ayers
Staff Writer
Farms.com
Following recent detections of Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea (PED) in Manitoba and African Swine Fever (ASF) in China, producers are encouraged to review biosecurity protocols on their farms.
“The problem for the second quarter was the Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea that started mid-May in southeastern Manitoba,” Dr. Jette Christensen, manager of the Canada West Swine Health Intelligence Network, said in a Farmscape article on Monday.
In Manitoba, officials have found PED on 12 operations but the buffer areas surrounding these farms have been disease-free since early June, the article said.
“In 2018, we’ve had 12 infected premises. Seven of those premises have been infected in other years,” Jenelle Hamblin, manager of swine health programs with Manitoba Pork, said to Farms.com yesterday.
“Of the 12 (cases), six were sow operations, three were nurseries and three were finisher” barns.
Producers and veterinarians have been working diligently to reach presumptive negative status in these herds.
Disease concerns stretch beyond Canadian borders, though.
China recently discovered its third outbreak of ASF in swine herds, a Reuters article said on Sunday.
The transmission of ASF from China is worrisome “because of the contact – people travelling to and from China,” Christensen said.
But biosecurity measures can help producers protect their hog operations from disease.
“Manitoba Pork is looking at a phased biosecurity plan – with normal day-to-day biosecurity (protocols that producers) should always be following and we’ve encouraged producers to put together plans that they can quickly implement for enhanced biosecurity should they hear there is a case of PED close by,” Hamblin said.
National Pork Board and the Pork Checkoff, Des Moines, IA USA photo
UPDATED Aug. 23, 2018