Managing PCV2 in hogs is more about avoidance than treatment.
Porcine circovirus type 2 is pushing tight Canadian hog farm margins into the red for up to 20 percent of producers.
After a 10-year lull, PCV2 has exploded in Eastern Canada and the disease is on the rise in the West, with the notable exception of Saskatchewan, where the virus was first linked to a disease outbreak in 1991.
The virus itself seldom causes disease, but in the presence of other active pathogens can be devastating, with symptoms ranging from pneumonia to skin disorders.
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“Poor-doers are often the first sign,” said John Patience, head of the Prairie Swine Centre in Saskatoon, about PCV2 and its direct link to post-weaning multi-systemic wasting syndrome.
Patience said that while four new but generally unavailable PCV2 vaccines will provide producers with additional resources, much of the solution for this disease lies in barn and herd management.
Frank Marshall, a Camrose veterinarian and swine specialist, said reducing disease loads, providing adequate access to feed and water, keeping animals away from drafts, reducing stress with proper stocking levels and sorting for sex and size extremes all play a role in reducing PCV2.
John Harding from the University of Saskatchewan said these techniques improve overall herd health and the animals’ ability to deal with disease.
“Strict all-in, all-out barn management will help to keep disease from being passed on between barn cycles, but PCV2 is present in pretty much any barn in the world,” he said.
