RIDGETOWN, Ont. — Porcine epidemic diarrhea virus has been a disaster for North American agriculture, but Europe faces an even greater threat.
Two wild boars in Poland recently tested positive for African swine fever, said Ernest Sanford, a swine specialist with Boehringer Ingelheim, who spoke here Feb. 19.
“This is moving to the European Union. Once it gets into the EU, it can keep rolling,” he said.
The World Organization for Animal Health says the most virulent strains of the virus will kill pigs of all ages in two to 10 days. Mortality rates may be as high as 100 percent.
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There is no published treatment or vaccine.
Sanford said Russia has spent $1 billion to control the disease in the Caucasus region, going as far as killing backyard pigs, but has had limited success. There have been outbreaks in 10 Russian provinces.
The disease is spread by pig-to-pig contact, trucks and equipment, clothing and biting flies and ticks.
There are close to 1.4 million sows in Poland.
Sanford said the Balkan states are also at immediate risk.
An Africa swine fever outbreak in Haiti in the 1970s led to the U.S. Department of Agriculture slaughtering 380,000 pigs in the country, Sanford said.
There was concern that refugees fleeing Haiti’s repressive government and impoverished economy would bring the disease with them.
