Alberta Pork alerted the public of the disease’s presence Jan. 8
By Diego Flammini
Staff Writer
Farms.com
The porcine epidemic diarrhea (PED) virus discovered on an Alberta farm last month hasn’t spread to any surrounding operations.
Alberta Pork confirmed the disease’s presence on a 400-head operation on Jan. 8, marking the first case of PED in the province.
Further testing shows no other cases of PED in the province, the organization said in a Jan. 31 update.
Officials are still trying to determine how the disease ended up on the farm.
“Unfortunately, no obvious source of introduction was found,” the chief veterinarian’s office said in a Jan. 31 statement. “Despite extensive testing, there was no evidence to support other theories such as introduction by feed or equipment brought onto the farm.”
Proactive reporting of the disease helped keep it from spreading.
All known or suspect cases of PED in the province must be reported within 24 hours, Alberta Agriculture says. That kind of timely response is important, said Dr. Julia Keenliside, a veterinary epidemiologist with Alberta Agriculture.
“The producer acted quickly to voluntarily stop movement and enhance their biosecurity and we are very thankful for that,” she told Farmscape on Wednesday. “The producer has been continuing to work closely with their herd vet to keep their biocontainment very tight and we have not seen any evidence of further spread.”
Canada’s first case of PED occurred in January 2014 on a farm in Middlesex County, Ont.
Since then, farms in Quebec, Prince Edward Island and Manitoba have contracted the disease. The latter province had 14 cases of PED in 2018.
Farms.com has reached out to Alberta Pork and swine veterinarians for comment on the PED situation.