Pig Farm Biosecurity Alert: PED Hits New Farm in Manitoba

CANADA - This week the Office of the Chief Veterinarian in Manitoba posted a notification to the Manitoba Agriculture, Food and Rural Development (MAFRD) web site stating that a third farm in southeast Manitoba has become infected with the Porcine Epidemic Diarrhoea virus (PEDv).
calendar icon 24 September 2014
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This particular occurrence is on a sow farm, reports Manitoba Pork.

Although it is disheartening to see another case arise, the organisation says we should use this as a lesson learned and elevate our biosecurity practices, especially with cold, wet weather looming. As we know, the risk of the virus spreading increases exponentially in colder seasons.

Manitoba Pork has been made aware of three risky practices that are putting our farms and our industry at amplified risk.

Some producers have not been wearing disposable boot covers while outside of their vehicles when at high-risk sites, such as assembly yards. You should always put them on when exiting your vehicle and remove them as you re-enter the vehicle, making sure to dispose of them in a biosecure way by putting them immediately into a garbage bag or receptacle.

Some producers are not washing their trucks and trailers when returning from high-risk sites. This is an absolute must.

Many producers are performing self-washes instead of full-service washes. This, in and of itself, is fine, if you’re performing a thorough wash. However, we have been informed that some producers are performing self-washes by themselves in under 30 minutes. We know most full-service washes take two workers and two hours to complete, putting the quality of some of our self-washes in question. Be sure to follow the best protocols to prevent bringing PEDv and other diseases back to your farm. These protocols can be found in our wash handbook.

We need to assume that all high pig-traffic sites, especially those with frequent US contact, are contaminated with the virus, adds Manitoba Pork. Make sure to practice extreme caution when visiting these sites.

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