The Manager of Swine Health Programs with Manitoba Pork says lessons learned as a result of the PED outbreak that struck in 2017 have been extremely helpful in containing the infection this year.
From April to October 2017, when it was finally brought under control, PED infected 80 swine sites in Manitoba.
The “2017 Manitoba PED Outbreak, Lessons Learned” report, prepared by Manitoba Pork in collaboration with the Canadian Animal Health Coalition and the Chief Veterinary Office of Manitoba, was released last month.
The report was based on interviews of sector stakeholders affected by the outbreak including producers, veterinarians, manure applicators, abattoirs, the provincial lab, Manitoba Pork and Manitoba Agriculture.
Jenelle Hamblin, the Manager of Swine Health Programs with Manitoba Pork, says the key lesson was the importance of keeping on top of biosecurity and just how infective the virus can be.
In terms of the virus itself, we learned that an animal can sporadically spread the virus for a much longer time than what we originally thought. This led to animals being infected in 2017. Animals were moved that were tested. Later we found that these animals were shedding sporadically, maybe upon stress of transport, they started shedding once they arrived at the destination and then hence breaking a downstream barn.
The best stance we’ve been taking is to assume the animal could be a threat until they go to slaughter. That is something that might not be the best news but better to be safe than sorry.
~ Jenelle Hamblin, Manitoba Pork
Hamblin says, as a result, producers have taken steps to reduce points of contact such as reducing the frequency of animal movements on a weekly basis to minimize the risk of spreading the infection.
