The Manager of Swine Health Programs with Manitoba Pork says the dramatic reduction in the number of PED cases identified this year compared to last is a testament to the efforts of all segments of the pork sector to protect pigs from infection.
82 Manitoba swine farms were infected by Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea in 2019 compared to only two farms so far this year, both confirmed June 10th.
Jenelle Hamblin, the Manager of Swine Health Programs with Manitoba Pork, says it’s important to recognise the efforts of stakeholders.
The one thing that doesn’t get said often enough is just a thankyou to the producers and the service providers and all the stakeholders here in the province that really have gone the extra mile and taken that extra effort. Biosecurity can be a lot of work and we know how important it is.
Stakeholders in general are going that extra mile and taking those steps and practicing that biosecurity, going through the steps of eliminating the disease on the farm for those farms that have been impacted, for those that haven’t. It certainly speaks to prevention and how this heightened awareness and heightened proaction to prevent these cases from coming on, the knowledge that there are things that we can be doing and actions that we can take. I truly believe that has made a huge difference in terms of our case number.
Also I think, this isn’t proven by any means, but there could be a residual level of immunity out on the landscape from 2019 as well that could be helping our cause. But overall the reduced number of cases will only help us to reduce the viral load in the environment, on the landscape in subsequent years through manure application etcetera. If we can keep the numbers low, we have a good shot at seeing lower case numbers year over year.
~ Jenelle Hamblin, Manitoba Pork
Hamblin applauds the commitment of the sector as a whole to eliminating this infection.
