The fledgling Western Swine Health Intelligence Network (WSHIN), a system which allows swine veterinarians in western Canada to share swine health information, is now officially operational.
Pork producer councils in western Canada in partnership with the Offices of the Provincial Chief Veterinary Officers have established a new Western Swine Health Intelligence Network to assume the responsibility of swine health surveillance in western Canada.
WSHIN manager Dr. Chris Byra explains the new network replaces the Canadian Swine Health Intelligence Network, for which funding ended in March 2013, and will continue as in the past with veterinarians submitting swine health information within a few days of visiting farms.
That information then will transfer into a database that only they have access to in terms of being able to identify a farm.
That information is also used then to produce aggregate reports looking at a specific disease, like streptococcus suis for example, and frequently is it seen?
It ends up becoming the information that’s used to discuss future research, future control measures and let’s us know the importance of that specific disease for example.
The other source of information then is a clinical impression survey which feeds information into a quarterly meeting that’s held in western Canada with veterinarians and swine experts and that meeting will summarize what’s happened in that previous quarterly.
In addition the laboratory information that’s been gathered by labs in western Canada and information from other labs that western Canadian veterinarians have been using,
All that information is gathered and we can assimilate the whole package.
Dr. Byra says swine veterinarians will benefit directly from this new system because it will provide them the information they need to more efficiently deal with disease but the ultimate beneficiary will be pork producers and processors.
