A Red Deer based swine veterinarian reports, as expected, the colder winter weather has added to the challenge of controlling PED.
As predicted, through the winter we've seen an increased spread of the virus responsible for Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea.
Dr. Egan Brockoff, a swine veterinarian with Prairie Swine Health Services in Red Deer, told participants in a PED telephone town hall meeting hosted by Alberta Pork Wednesday the number of primary cases in Canada now stands at just under 100 although the infection has been eradicated from about 40 of those primary sites.
Dr. Egan Brockoff-Prairie Swine Health Services:
In Canada we continue to see increased spread of PED virus in Ontario and recently in Quebec as well over the last seven to ten weeks.
It's not moving extremely rapidly and that's because of the hard work that pork producers and industry has been doing to keep it from widespread movement but it is moving and it is spreading and it is really at all the high traffic locations for pigs for Manitoba east now.
The United States continues to see positive PED cases cropping up every week.
The numbers have increase through the fall and in the winter and have stayed stable.
Their ascensions are over 100 per week.
The number of total new premises are declining.
Such a significant portion of their herd in the U.S. is now positive that they're just running out of new herds to affect but no question that that virus continues to give them lots of grief.
Dr. Brockoff acknowledges it's uncertain whether the spread of the virus in the U.S. has slowed as the result of so many herds being infected, as the result of improved biosecurity or as the result of increased use of vaccine but it's probably the result of all of those factors.
Source: Farmscape