When the PED virus hit Canada back in 2014, the veterinarians and total animal health field plus the industry itself took the experience gained during the eight-month lead time from when it first hit the pig industry in the United States and put it to good use.
Research continues across the industry and country to make sure it doesn’t raise its ugly head to devastate yet more farms, pigs and people.
Research conducted on behalf of the Manitoba Livestock Manure Management Initiative (MLMMI) suggests the best place to deal with PED infected manure is in the pit under the barn before it gets to the earthen manure storage.
To assess the infectivity of the virus responsible for Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea, engineers with the Prairie Agricultural Machinery Institute collected manure samples from various depths of the earthen manure storages on three PED infected Manitoba farms and researchers with the Department of Animal Science at the University of Manitoba then analyzed those samples to determine how long the virus could survive under Manitoba conditions.
John Carney, MLMMI executive director says researchers found the virus could survive and be infective five months and beyond at cold temperatures but it doesn’t thrive under warmer conditions.
“Some of the conclusions that we reached is that high temperatures are helpful in killing the virus and so, if there’s PED positive manure to be applied on farms, that applying it when temperatures are high is beneficial to expose the virus to heat and kill it faster than applying it when temperatures are low,” said Carney. “We also have concluded that, when a farm is PED positive, the first line of defense to kill the virus is likely in the pits under the barn rather than releasing the manure into the earthen manure storage and trying to kill it in the earthen manure storage. We think the pit is a better place to work on the virus.”
Carney says the work expands their appreciation of how difficult it is to get rid of this virus. The study shows, because of its cold winters, Manitoba faces a higher level of risk of spread than other regions and suggests the low number of cases is a result of producers’ excellent bio-security.
Dr. Kurt Preugschas, a veterinarian with Innovative Veterinary Services in Alberta says western Canada’s pork industry has done an excellent job of stepping up bio-security to prevent disease and the next step is to take action to contain the spread of disease.
In response to the risk posed by PED, Alberta Pork is preparing to introduce a bio-containment plan tailored for each farm and triggered in the event PED is identified.
Dr. Preugschas, who helped develop the plan, says the industry has done an excellent job of making bio-security a priority, which is the most critical step, and by limiting the number of farms infected by a disease, for example PED, through excellent bio-containment protocols this will ensure the long term viability of the industry.
“Some of the key steps include contacting your veterinarian immediately when a disease is suspected because an early diagnosis of course will give the best possible chance to minimize the spread of disease and maximize bio-containment,” he said. “I think that is the first critical step. Other components include figuring out the epidemiology of the disease and how it got to your farm. The other key component is to contact all service providers that would be in contact or may have visited your site.”
Dr. Preugschas thinks open communication and collaboration with neighbors and industry about the health status of your farm and communicating that to prevent other farms from being affected is a very key component. Other aspects include just overall increased bio-security, traffic, transportation flows, entry protocols, how to deal with mass mortality and many other simple components that would go into a plan.
“Communication is the biggest aspect of the plan,” he added. •
— By Harry Siemens
