The Office of Manitoba’s Chief Veterinary Officer has launched an investigation into the latest confirmed case of PED in Manitoba.
Last week Manitoba Agriculture confirmed a sow operation in southeastern Manitoba has been infected with Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea.
Dr. Megan Bergman, Manitoba’s Chief Veterinary Officer says the farm has taken steps to contain the virus and eliminate it and efforts are underway to identify the source and minimize any risk of transmission.
Certainly we do a thorough investigation working very closely with the herd veterinarian as well as the farm owner to determine all movement on and off the farm, whether it be vehicles, people or animals so we can try to determine a possible source of entry and also eliminate any potential transmission risks that may exist.
We work very closely with both the farmer and the herd veterinarian and also the industry group. They’re very active in ensuring that other producers are notified that there is another case in the province so that everyone can ensure they’re continuing to practice enhanced biosecurity practices.
Essentially we conduct testing of any animal facility that’s been in contact with this particular farm to determine if there’s been any transmission. Then we monitor them 10 days later just to ensure that there’s no presence of disease. At this point there’s been no linkages associated with any of the previously positive operations.
We’re just in the process of tracking movement both on and off the farm. We have followed up and are conducting testing on all farms that are linked with this particular farm just to ensure we don’t have the virus in any other facility to see if we can rule out any possible sources from that particular avenue. At this point it looks like this farm has an excellent biosecurity protocol and has been very stringent in their practices so, no smoking gun at this moment.
~ Dr. Megan Bergman-Manitoba Agriculture
Dr. Bergman encourages all producers to consult with their herd veterinarians to make sure all the bases are being covered in terms of what’s moving on and off the farm, minimizing risks and being conscious of where they travel to avoid bringing anything back to their farms.
