Two winters of PED have shown Ontario hog farmers two important things, says the first veterinarian to identify PED in Canada:
- The disease can be controlled and eliminated from a barn.
- It can always appear or return, no matter how careful a farm is.
Sue Burlatschenko told the Manitoba Swine Seminar that farmers must be both diligent and relaxed about the ongoing threat of PED, which she thinks will never completely disappear from Canada now that it’s here.
“I don’t think we’re (going to be) eliminating it,” said Burlatschenko.
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“We’ll control it. We’ve done a great job. We won’t eliminate it.”
Burlatschenko works with Ontario hog farms and has seen PED break out in some locations and be eliminated from others.
She said drawing firm conclusions is difficult because the disease has many complexities and quirks that make it hard to understand. The least biosecure farms can remain free or clean up the disease more quickly than expected, while the best-run can endure more profound problems than seems right.
“I can’t predict,” said Burlatschenko.
However, reasonable diligence on biosecurity and management seems to be the best approach.
Biosecurity with manure movement can reduce spread from farm to farm, while control within a barn can restrict the flow of PED infection from one section to another.
The disease can be isolated and wiped out from individual farms.
“You can walk the virus out,” she said about one farm that eliminated PED from a nursery system.
“It takes a lot of work, but you can walk the virus out.”
Other speakers at the conference recognized Canada’s relative success with controlling PED, which has gone out of control in some parts of the U.S. hog industry. Burlatschenko’s observations bolstered the idea that PED can be controlled once it appears and that widespread infection is not inevitable.
However, she cautioned producers to be ready for vexing biosecurity lapses and poor decisions by others, which could lead to infection, such as service providers being unwilling to change their behaviour, even if a farmer suspects he has become infected but has not yet verified it.
“Just remember: stupid still happens,” said Burlatschenko.
However, that doesn’t mean farmers shouldn’t do what they can to minimize their risk because so far it’s working.
“If you can contain the virus like we’ve done, you’ve done an exceptional job,” said Burlaschenko.
“Pat yourselves on the back. We’ve done well.”
ed.white@producer.com
