Porcine epidemic diarrhea | Virus is affecting only a small portion of the industry so far, say officials
The number of hog operations infected with porcine epidemic diarrhea virus continues to increase.
However, its slow pace offers the pork industry encouragement that the disease can eventually be eradicated in Canada.
Forty-three cases of PED had been confirmed in Ontario as of March 31, and single cases in Manitoba, Quebec and Prince Edward Island have been isolated and controlled.
“That’s the interest of our producers,” Canadian Pork Council public relations manager Gary Stordy said about eliminating PED.
“It is here in Canada without a doubt, but the rate of penetration and the number of cases are still relatively small compared to the size of our industry, and it’s still quite small, considering what has taken place in the U.S.”
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PED virus has infected more than 4,100 farms in the United States in 28 states and has killed thousands of piglets.
The illness is now considered endemic in the U.S., but Canada is not in that position, said Stordy.
“It’s not to a point where there’s no return,” he said.
“This is a serious virus for producers and no one has given up.”
Major emphasis on hog farm bio-security has helped limit the spread of infection, but hog groups are now focusing on closing the gaps through which PED and the recently discovered delta coronavirus got into Canada.
Robert Harding, executive director of the Canadian Swine Health Board, said a national or international strategy might be required.
“Something came in. We still don’t know how, and it’s not just PED,” said Harding.
“It really underscores the fact that in just a very short period of time, here in North America, we’ve got two or three new pathogens that we didn’t have before, so how are they getting here is the question that some of us are asking. It may very well take a national strategy or perhaps an international strategy, working with our American friends, to say what can we do to find the hole and then plug it.”
The pork council issued a news release last week urging industry focus on seven areas:
- open communication among stakeholders
- biosecurity on and off the farm
- ongoing surveillance and reporting
- transport measures that include attention at the Canada-U.S. border
- clarity of PED risks associated with feed
- research to address knowledge gaps about PED
- containment and elimination
Council chair Jen-Guy Vincent said feed contamination and truck sanitation are beyond producers’ control, but the disease can still be eliminated in Canada with sufficient co-operation.
The hope now is that warm weather this summer will provide a lull in PED spread. The virus thrives in cold weather and can travel in ice and snow.
Sufficient heat and drying can kill the virus, which is more easily accomplished in summer, when trucks can be quickly dried and there are fewer issues with tracking wet, virus-laden manure.
“Certainly in the last few months, the weather has not been our friend,” said Harding.
He said new cases in Ontario appear to be related to transporting market hogs, “which means that the initial causes seem to be under control through heightened biosecurity awareness by our producers, our veterinarians, our transporters. Now it’s a matter of changing the focus to be more on the issues related to market hogs. That doesn’t mean that it’s no big deal. It’s a huge deal, and it takes a tremendous amount of heightened biosecurity to be able to maintain that approach.”
PED was first found in Canada in January. It may have been initially spread through contaminated feed ingredients, but tests have been inconclusive.
The virus is fatal to young piglets, which die of severe dehydration and starvation through diarrhea and vomiting. PED poses no risk to human health or food safety.
