Manitoba’s Chief Veterinary Officer says achieving PED Presumptive Negative status demonstrate this virus can be contained and eliminated from the herd.
Between February 2014 and January 2015 a total of 5 Manitoba swine herds were identified as infected with Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea, including 3 grower finisher operations and two sow herds.
Last week the office of Manitoba’s Chief Veterinary Officer announced, all premises in Manitoba previously confirmed to have PED, have been determined to be PED Presumptive Negative.
Dr. Megan Bergman, Manitoba’s Chief Veterinary Officer, says achieving presumptive negative status was a very collaborative effort.
After a thorough cleaning and disinfection of these sites, the process itself involved multiple rounds of animal and environmental testing over a minimum of a 30 day period so that we could achieve negative results for both the environment as well as for the pigs in the herd. The testing itself was actually conducted by the herd veterinarians working very collaboratively with our office and it really involved a minimum of 3 visits by these veterinarians. The process itself helped us to provide assurance that all of the pigs and the pig contact surfaces within those barns were negative for PED.
From a Manitoba perspective, I think the real significance here is that this status provides confirmation and assurance, not only for the producers that were affected, but also for the industry stakeholders that pigs shipped from these herds will no longer be shedding PED virus to any other premise and it really means that we no longer have a significant risk in the Manitoba industry from these affected herds.
It also allows the industry to really demonstrate that this virus, although it is in Manitoba, it can be contained and it can be eliminated from the herd.
Dr. Bergman commends the work of those affected producers and their veterinarians in eliminating this virus from their herds because they really have helped protect the Manitoba swine industry.
She says the province will continue to provide surveillance options to help ensure we’re rapidly detecting any new cases and can respond quickly.
