The Executive Director of the Prince Edward Island Hog Marketing Board says the Canadian Swine Health Board’s National Biosecurity Training Program has added a new level of protection for Canada’s swine herd.
The National Biosecurity Training Program, based on the National Farm Level Biosecurity Standard developed by the Canadian Swine Health Board, was launched in Prince Edward Island earlier this year.
Tim Seeber, the Executive Director of the Prince Edward Island Hog Marketing Board, says producer participation in the training program is already approaching 90 percent.
The circovirus that happened in the first years after 2000 that decimated the industry prompted the federal government to take the initiative, ask the Canadian Pork Council to look into measures that they could take to counteract disease that would affect the industry.
Because of that the Canadian Swine Health Board was put in place and one of their initiatives was to do a baseline study to just see the level of biosecurity that was in place in place across the country.
The more awareness you have as far as biosecurity goes and the potential things that can affect your herd, world travel has increased significantly with the passing of time and it means that you have more potential for disease to be brought from other jurisdictions.
I think that there’s a real need that this stuff would be put in place to save the industry and to prevent any disasters that have happened in other parts of the world because biosecurity has not been in the forefront of their planning and industry protocols in other areas.
Seeber says at just under 90 percent producer participation is higher than expected.
For more information on the National Biosecurity Training Program visit the Canadian Swine Health Board web site at swinehealth.ca or contact your provincial pork organization or local swine health veterinarian.
