More than 20 premises are infected, Manitoba Pork said
By Diego Flammini
Staff Writer
Farms.com
Manitoba’s cases of porcine epidemic diarrhea (PED) so far in 2019 have already surpassed 2018’s figures.
About 21 locations are infected with PED, a June 6 update from Manitoba Agriculture says. In 2018, the province had a total of 16 cases.
The province’s southeast region has 19 cases: two each in farrow-to-finish and nursery operations, six cases on sow farms and nine cases in finisher barns.
The other two cases are in sow operations in the south central area of the province.
Seeing so many instances of PED is troubling considering the progress Manitoba’s pork industry had made in controlling the virus, said George Matheson, chair of Manitoba Pork.
“I believe as of (Tuesday) we might be up to 25 premises,” he told Farms.com. “It’s disturbing, especially since we were thought to be on a trend to fewer cases. We had 81 two years ago and 16 last year.”
PED is hard to track because “it just flares up and it’s difficult to find the smoking gun,” Matheson said.
The timing of the cases isn’t surprising, said Jenelle Hamblin, manager of swine health programs with Manitoba Pork.
“This April-to-June time period is when we typically see PED more frequently,” she told The Brandon Sun Tuesday. “That’s when we had the majority of our cases in 2018.”
The next step in the investigation is to continue farm surveillance.
Farmers can access tools to help them share details of outbreaks and to improve biosecurity, Matheson said.
“We’re hoping producers will take advantage of our Coordinated Disease Response program,” he said. “Anyone who has signed on can be advised where the disease has been detected and can track where it is.”