Vaccines against porcine epidemic diarrhea virus are available in Canada for emergency use but are being administered in barns that are already infected.
Harris Vaccines and Zoetis have products that seem to reduce severity of outbreaks in naïve herds, but they will not prevent infection, said swine veterinarian Egan Brockhoff.
Speaking during a Jan. 30 conference call organized by Alberta Pork, Brockhoff said PED-free status limits the use of vaccine.
“If your herd is naïve, and everyone’s herd in Alberta is naïve … and you were to go vaccinate your sows today in a vaccine protocol, and then later become infected with PED, you would have a significant loss from PED, especially in very young piglets, piglets less than six days of age.… You would see 100 percent loss of that piglet population.”
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Brockhoff said the U.S. experience has shown vaccines can lower death rates in older piglets but they are mainly being used to build up herd immunity after an outbreak.
That could change as more is known about the virus and the vaccines, he added.
“These vaccines are not perfect. They will not prevent mortality in naïve herds in early stage production and certainly that remains the case today.”
In Canada, the vaccines are only available through special permit from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, upon application by a veterinarian.
“Lots of our U.S. colleagues are vaccinating gilt populations now to help them come into the herd and prevent this recurring, cyclical endemic PED.”
American hog producers have found that PED can re-infect barns once the virus has been initially eliminated.
Dr. Frank Marshall of Marshall Swine Health Services said biosecurity remains the primary mode of protection against the virus.
“We owe it to ourselves to continue the vigilance in this direction,” said Marshall.
