Despite strict vigilance and tightening up of biosecurity protocol the dreaded PED virus is ever present and ready to strike it appears as it did again in Manitoba.

Manitoba Pork says on September 15, Manitoba’s Chief Veterinary Office (CVO) confirmed positive test results for porcine epidemic diarrhea (PED) from a southeastern Manitoba sow barn, bringing the number of Manitoba cases to nine since the first one was found in February 2014. The CVO has consulted with the producer and the producer’s private veterinarian, and Manitoba Agriculture’s Emergency Operation Centre activated.

“Control measures were implemented immediately and a plan is being developed for restricted site access, barn clean-up and animal care,” says MPC. “Producers within a five km radius of the infected site or with direct contact to the site were alerted to monitor their herds and collect samples for testing.”

In talking to producers since PED virus hit in Manitoba in 2013, every time a new case hits, they cautiously look into their sow barns the next morning to see if they can detect any symptoms or signs. Manitoba Pork’s Manager of Quality Assurance and Animal Care Programs, Mark Flynn says six of the nine premises in Manitoba previously confirmed to have PED are now determined to be PED Presumptive Negative, meaning that the sites have eliminated PED from all pigs and pig contact areas, and have confirmed the virus has been eliminated through repeated animal and environmental testing. This follows a negative status protocol developed by the CVO and Manitoba’s swine veterinarians.

Dr. Megan Bergman, Manitoba’s Chief Veterinary Officer and the Office of Manitoba’s Chief Veterinary Officer has launched an investigation into this latest confirmed case. Dr. Bergman says the farm has taken steps to contain the virus and eliminate it and efforts are underway to identify the source and minimize any risk of transmission.

“Certainly we do a thorough investigation working very closely with the herd veterinarian as well as the farm owner to determine all movement on and off the farm, whether it be vehicles, people or animals so we can try to determine a possible source of entry and also eliminate any potential transmission risks that may exist,” she said. “We work very closely with both the farmer and the herd veterinarian and also the industry group. They’re very active in ensuring that other producers are notified that there is another case in the province so that everyone can ensure they’re continuing to practice enhanced biosecurity practices.”

Bergman says essentially her office conducts testing of any animal facility in contact with this particular farm to determine if there’s been any transmission. Then they monitor them 10 days later just to ensure that there’s no presence of disease.

“At this point there’s been no linkages associated with any of the previously positive operations. “We’re just in the process of tracking movement both on and off the farm,” she said as of Monday, Sept 19. “We have followed up and are conducting testing on all farms that are linked with this particular farm just to ensure we don’t have the virus in any other facility to see if we can rule out any possible sources from that particular avenue.”

At this point it looks like this farm has an excellent biosecurity protocol and has been very stringent in their practices so, no smoking gun at this moment,” added Dr. Bergman.

She encourages all producers to consult with their herd veterinarians to make sure all the bases are covered in terms of what’s moving on and off the farm, minimizing risks and being conscious of where they travel to avoid bringing anything back to their farms.

Earlier in August, Dr. Egan Brockhoff, the Veterinary Counsel with the Canadian Pork Council said the latest incidents involving PED serve as a reminder of the importance of keeping biosecurity on point as fall approaches. Dr. Brockhoff said three herds broke in Manitoba this spring, but were all contained. Investigations have really been completed and those herds are moving toward negative status and so that’s great news.

“We’ve recently had a PED positive trailer found in Alberta and that reminds everyone that PED does move through transport and that it’s extremely important that you pay attention to your transport biosecurity to ensure you’re not putting your barn at risk,” he said. “With the warm dry weather it’s very easy to get a little bit complacent with this virus and how it moves.” •

— By Harry Siemens