The Veterinary Counsel with the Canadian Pork Council says the return to more moderate winter temperatures is making efforts to maintain biosecurity to contain the risk of spreading Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea much easier.
The Canadian Swine Health Intelligence Network December 15 Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea Update indicates of the Manitoba operations that were infected in May and in September are moving toward eradicating the virus.
Dr. Egan Brockhoff, the veterinary Counsel with the Canadian Pork Council, says there’s no question that the extreme cold conditions we’ve had in the past few weeks have made washing and disinfection very difficult at the farm level, very difficult at the load out level and very difficult for the trucks and trailers that move between farms and across the provinces.
As we’ve seen the weather warm up a little bit in the last few days that’s had a lot of positive impact on all of those things I’ve mentioned. It really makes washing, cleaning and disinfection much more simple.
As we transition into winter we always expect viral spread to increase. The lower sunlight hours in the day, the little more cloud, the calmer wind days, they all contribute to viral spread. This is a highly infectious virus. Washing, disinfecting and ideally drying all of your transports before they arrive at your farm site is key to preventing viral spread.
Practicing good biosecurity, ensuring the transporters and the truckers do a proper Danish entry protocol into their trailer, that they’re wearing boot covers when they are walking across the ground, that your team and yourself, when you’re entering your barn, you’re wearing boot covers, you’re doing a proper boot change and Danish entry into your own farm and protecting the pigs within.
Dr. Egan Brockhoff, Canadian Pork Council
Dr. Brockhoff says Canada is doing a fantastic job of keeping this virus down and working really hard to push it out of the country.
