Quebec has become the fourth province to confirm the presence of porcine epidemic diarrhea virus.
The Quebec agriculture ministry confirmed Feb. 23 that a case of the deadly hog virus has been found in the Monteregie region south of Montreal.
That brings total PED cases in Canada to 24 as of Feb. 24, on a list that includes 21 in Ontario, one in Manitoba and one in Prince Edward Island.
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency continues to investigate feed as a potential initial source of the virus.
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The CFIA confirmed last week that the PED virus was present in porcine plasma feed ingredients originating in the United States and used in pellet rations prepared by Ontario feed manufacturer Grand Valley Fortifiers.
The CFIA said in a Feb. 18 news release that results from those tests would be available “within days” but results were not available at press time.
However, the Ontario Swine Health Advisory Board said Feb. 21 that it was confident feed was the initial source of the virus and that avenue has been closed.
Grand Valley Fortifiers issued a voluntary recall two weeks ago of all feeds containing the dried porcine plasma product under investigation. CFIA said it is reviewing records of other imported swine plasma products to see if additional recalls are necessary.
Pork industry officials and provincial veterinarians continue to hold meetings to inform producers about the disease situation, urging stringent biosecurity on hog farms to prevent infection and/or contain PED spread.
Some also recommend producers stop using feed containing porcine plasma, at least until more is known about PED spread.
The disease does not affect other animals and presents no risk to human health. However, it severely affects pork production by killing piglets, which die from dehydration and starvation.
The spread of the virulent illness got the attention of federal politicians last week.
The New Democratic Party called for a multi-pronged federal study on the impact, spread and mitigation of PED in Canadian swine herds, as well as methods of support available from the government for affected farmers.
“The federal government must take action to ensure a cohesive and co-operative approach to dealing with this outbreak,” said NDP agriculture critic Malcolm Allen in a Feb. 20 news release.
Liberal agriculture critic Mark Eyking raised questions about PED’s transmission through feed.
“I have to ask if (agriculture) minister (Gerry) Ritz’s cutbacks on CFIA’s human resources had an impact; CFIA has an obligation to properly monitor feed companies and to make sure what farmers feed their livestock is safe,” Eyking said.
The CFIA has been active on feed testing and the government has made funds available through Growing Forward 2 for farmers to improve biosecurity measures.
However, further bad news on the hog disease front appeared last week when a virus similar to PED was found on an Ohio hog farm.
Dubbed swine delta coronavirus (SDCV), its symptoms are similar to both PED and transmissible gastroenteritis (TGE).
It is one of several new strains researchers have identified in the U.S. since the PED outbreak began there in May 2013.
“The new viruses are equally infectious from everything that’s been published so far about them,” said Dr. Egan Brockhoff, an Alberta swine veterinarian. “They pulled it out of clinically ill pigs.”
Brockhoff, who has seen some of the infected American herds first-hand, said PED is now estimated to have affected 20 percent of the U.S. herd.
“They are not slowing it down,” he said.
But Canada is in a far different position, having had time to prepare a strategy.
“In Canada, we can still contain this puppy,” said Brockhoff when speaking to Alberta hog producers last week.
The Manitoba and Prince Edward Island cases appear to be contained and Ontario has traced the source of its infection to feed.
“We’ve stopped the original source and that’s going to be one of Canada’s great stories,” said Brockhoff. “There’s a good chance Ontario can contain it.”
