Manitoba has confirmed two new cases of porcine epidemic diarrhea, its first this year.
The Canada West Swine Health Intelligence Network reported the discovery June 9 in one hog operation in the northeastern buffer area and one in the high-risk area where PED cases appeared last year, primarily in an area southeast of Winnipeg.
Both new cases are in nurseries that showed clinical signs and subsequently tested positive, a network news release said.
The affected producers, swine health network personnel and government partners are working to contain the outbreaks and investigate the source of infection.
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As of June 2, 181 of the 189 Manitoba operations that had PED infections last year were presumed negative for the virus after undergoing clean-up operations. The others, all finisher operations, are in the transitional phase.
PED is no threat to people but can be deadly to young piglets, who die of dehydration and malnutrition.
Alberta had an outbreak in several premises in 2019 and is now free of the virus, according to Alberta Pork. No cases have ever been identified in Saskatchewan.
The swine virus first appeared in Canada in January 2014 in Ontario and Quebec. Manitoba confirmed four cases that same year and has battled the virus when it has sporadically appeared ever since.
