Alberta confirmed its second case of porcine epidemic diarrhea virus Feb. 21, this one in a 600-head farrow-to-finish hog operation that is far away from the site of the first case discovered in the province.
Alberta’s first case, confirmed in early January, is at a central Alberta farrow-to-finish operation that had 400 animals.
Javier Bahamon, quality assurance and production manager with Alberta Pork, confirmed Feb. 25 that the two affected farms are in completely different areas of the province but declined to be more specific.
“It is located in a completely different area. It is far, far away from the first one,” he said. “A lot of producers probably know already but officially I cannot say. It is confidential information”
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He added that the investigation into the most recent case is ongoing and the investigation of the first case is not yet complete either. A second case has put pork producers on edge because PED virus is almost always fatal to young piglets and also affects production in older animals, although they do recover.
The virus is highly contagious and travels in manure and on various surfaces including trucks, tires, clothing and feed. One gram of infected material can infect an entire herd of pigs.
“It’s kind of nervous in the industry but I think we just need to be a little bit more vigilant on the things that we do and how we do it and start to go back to the basics of biosecurity,” Bahamon said.
“Biosecurity is not just one day. Biosecurity is every day, every moment every single hour and minute, every time that you transport anything to your farm, the protocol needs to be fulfilled every time.”
The virus can also survive in the cold temperatures that have afflicted all of Western Canada in recent weeks. The cold makes it more difficult to thoroughly clean equipment and surfaces that might carry PED virus.
“Snow is a very good carrier. Snow and mud … in those kinds of materials this virus can survive easily,” said Bahamon.
Alberta Pork is working with the Alberta Agriculture department and the chief veterinary officer in the investigation. The owner of the second affected farm voluntarily stopped all pig shipping as soon as the virus was confirmed.
Surveillance of high traffic sites for pigs, such as abattoirs, assembly yards and truck washes, is continuing and Bahamon said no virus has been found in those sites.
The investigation into Alberta’s first case of PED has not determined the source of the virus, though testing ruled out introduction from other pigs and from livestock transport vehicles.
A Feb. 21 statement from the provincial veterinarian office said enhanced biosecurity has been implemented at the new site. It further said no market access implications are expected as a result of the second case.
PED is not a threat to human health or to food quality.
barb.glen@producer.com
