PVC2 is alive and well in 2005.
Porcine circovirus 2 has already reduced Quebec’s slaughter hog production by 10 percent this year.The disease was first identified in Saskatchewan in 1995.
John Harding of the University of Saskatchewan’s Western College of Veterinary Medicine told the Saskatchewan Pork Symposium on Nov. 8 that the virus’s infection cycle appears to be on the rise again.
“And if it is like most (pig) disease outbreaks in Canada it will spread from Quebec to Ontario, then to southern Manitoba; it may or may not skip Saskatchewan and then it will land in southern Alberta,” Harding said.
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The tiny, single stranded DNA virus shows up as a variety of diseases in pigs.
PCV2 is associated with disease manifestations including post weaning multi-systemic wasting syndrome, respiratory disease as part of the porcine respiratory disease complex, enteritis similar to ileitis, and porcine dermatitis and nephropathy syndrome.
It is also considered to play a role in humpy-back swine and shaker pigs.
While outbreaks were occurring in Saskatchewan and Alberta in 1995, France was experiencing its own cases and the virus spread across Europe.
It also appeared about that time in Asia and the United States. It hit Mexico in 2001, Brazil in 2002, New Zealand in 2003 and Australia this year. Harding said it usually affects about 30 percent of the herd before playing itself out over a 24 to 36 month period.
Unlike many epidemics, PCV2 is present in most of an infected farm’s population but only appears in a few animals. In those it usually results in death.
No vaccines are available to treat it, but a few are in the research pipeline and expected to receive emergency Canadian registration in 2006.
In French trials a killed vaccine was successful in reducing infections by three fold when administered to sows and gilts. The maternal resistance is passed on through colostrum.
A live vaccine is also being developed for grower-finisher animals.
Harding said producers avoid problems by maintaining high herd health standards.
As well, vaccinating animals at the wrong time with mycoplasma vaccines containing some adjuvants can cause increased virus levels.
“You need to be careful about using those vaccines at only the time they are intended for or it can increase your risk of (a PVC2 infection),” Harding said.
He also advised producers to avoid foreign boar semen.
