Farms.com Home   News

Alberta Outbreak Shows Difficulty Eliminating Strep Zoo

An outbreak of Streptococcus equii zooepidemicus in Alberta has demonstrated the difficulty in eliminating the infection from the farm.

The Canada West Swine Health Intelligence Network swine disease surveillance report for the fourth Quarter of 2022 highlights a case of Streptococcus equii zooepidemicus detected in September on a sow farm in Alberta.The outbreak occurred on a five thousand sow operation and saw high mortality in sows in late September and into October.

Canada West Swine Health Intelligence Network Manager Dr. Jette Christensen says the operation implemented a control strategy without depopulation but applied treatments while acclimatizing gilts though feedback, without success.

Clip-Dr. Jette Christensen-Canada West Swine Health Intelligence Network:

They've been trying to avoid depopulating the entire premises.That has been unsuccessful.This is a really dramatic disease because it causes sudden death in sows.

The report from the practitioner is that from when a sow starts to go off feed and shows a little depression until the sow is dead is less than 12 hours.

It's really hard to keep on top of that because, if you're going to cure the sow or get it to survive you have to get in with early treatment.

You really have to catch the sows developing the disease within a few hours of the first onset.This farm has experienced over 300 sows dead within the first four months.

The feedback we got from them was that exposure under treatment from October to December did fail as a control measure.

Dr. Christensen says the experience also showed Strep zoo is a slow-moving disease that seems to require nose to nose contact to spread but, with the high mortality, it's a dramatic disease.

Source : Farmscape.ca

Trending Video

Growing Fast! Comparing Our Suffolk & Dorset Lambs

Video: Growing Fast! Comparing Our Suffolk & Dorset Lambs

Comparing Suffolk and Dorset lambs today! Lambing season is winding down at Ewetopia Farms, giving us the perfect opportunity to check in on how all our lambs are growing! Today, we take a closer look at the different age groups from waves one and two of this year's lambing season, comparing the growth and traits of our Suffolk and Dorset lambs. It’s amazing to see their progress! Join us on our working sheep farm in Ontario, Canada for a cuteness overload as we get up close and personal with these adorable, fast-growing lambs.