The organization works with partners to identify, report and follow up on positive PED sites
By Jackie Clark
Staff Writer
Farms.com
Swine Health Ontario continues to work with partners to monitor porcine epidemic diarrhea (PED) in the province. In the spring, responsibility for PED tracking and followup transitioned from OMAFRA to these organizations.
“Swine Health Ontario, in collaboration with Ontario Pork, the Ontario Pork Industry Council, the Animal Health Laboratory and the veterinarians in the province are collaborating to manage PED in the province. It is a great step forward in industry collaboration to manage a swine disease in the province,” Dr. Bethany Davidson-Eng, general manager of Swine Health Ontario, told Farms.com.
PED case tracking moved from the Ontario Pork website to the Swine Health Ontario website as of Apr. 1, 2020.
“Since the beginning of 2020, 25 sites have tested positive for PED. As we have transitioned into reporting, we will be following up with any new PED positives that are submitted,” Davidson-Eng said.
There have not been any new reported cases in Ontario since May 22.
The reason for this is uncertain, said Dr. Ryan Tenbergen, veterinarian with Demeter Veterinary Services in an e-mailed statement. “The hot summer heat we have experienced this year could be a factor to help limit the spread of the virus.”
Swine Health Ontario “did a great job of highlighting new cases in early 2020 to the industry (and) raising awareness about the disease and steps to take to prevent further spread. The Ontario industry has also taken the general approach of elimination when confronted with new cases of PED, further reducing the chance for further spread of the virus,” he added.
When a site tests positive in Ontario, “Swine Health Ontario receives notice from the Animal Health Laboratory that a positive PED test has been submitted,” Davidson-Eng explained. “We then follow up with the veterinarian of record on the positive test. With any new site that tests positive for PED, we will be following up with the veterinarian to record time to negative.”
The timeline for barns with PED to recover and be declared negative “depends on the site makeup and construction, age of pigs, production types – sows, nursery, finisher, (or) farrow-to-finish,” Tenbergen explained. Swine health experts think “pigs shed virus in manure for upwards of one month … but this is a generalization as some pigs have been found to shed virus for much longer. Nurseries and finishing barns can be emptied and cleaned which provides the best chance for a quick elimination depending on where in the cycle they were infected.”
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