The manager of producer services with Sask Pork says it’s up to each individual pork producer to ensure the biosecurity protocols are in place that will protect their farms from the introduction of Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea.
Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea was identified in Ontario in January and almost two weeks ago cases were confirmed in Manitoba and Prince Edward Island.
Harvey Wagner, the manager of producer services with the Saskatchewan Pork Development Board, says the U.S. experience has shown those producers who have adhered to strict biosecurity protocols have been able to keep their operations free of the virus.
The primary risk is transport through manure and contact with manure and bringing manure that has PED virus into your barn.
That’s clearly the most dangerous vector of transmitting disease into pigs because there’s so many virus in the manure of pigs so anything you can do to prevent transfer in that respect, even incidental transfer, is really critical.
Pay attention to the sanitation of your trucks, pay attention to where the trucks have been, inspect it, have a look at it before it backs up to your barn, make sure that it’s clean.
If you can get third party audit prior to it coming to your farm, that is the best thing.
Have somebody look at that truck to make sure that it’s clean, that there is no possibility of contamination of manure.
Make sure that the people coming into your farm have adequate down time, haven’t been near other pigs or in high risk areas.
Make sure they’re wearing your proper clothing when they’re coming into your barns.
The basic biosecurity practices that we’ve used in the past have to be applied in all cases.
The biggest risk of bringing it in is what you do.
You can’t worry about what other people are doing.
Make sure that you pay attention to what you’re doing on your farm and do it all the time and do it right all the time.
Wagner observes more trucks are being washed and in a far more diligent way, people are paying very close attention to disinfection and using propylene glycol and people are drying trucks where they weren’t in the past.
