Dr. Glen Duizer, an animal health surveillance veterinarian with the Chief Veterinary Office of Manitoba said time will tell whether Manitoba’s swine industry will ultimately eliminate the PED virus.

On April 29, 2017, the first of what would grow to 80 cases of PEDv, becoming the largest animal disease outbreak in the province in 30 years, was reported in southeastern Manitoba.

Dr. Duizer told the 2018 Manitoba Swine Seminar in February in Winnipeg, MB, the PEDv outbreak peaked at the end of June before tapering off with another bump in mid-September.

“The good news is of the 80 sites, 44 of them have reached presumptive negative status,” he said. “The producers, herd veterinarians, service providers, transporters, feed companies have all worked very hard to contain this disease because it takes on average four to six months to get there.”

Dr. Duizer thinks they’ve had only one farm that had a recurrence of the disease. “I would be speculating to say that we’re out of the woods, but I remain hopeful,” he said. “This upcoming year will be the telling piece while we wait to see if all the changes made within farms, around farms will be effective in preventing the disease from coming back.”

Robyn Harte, a swine industry focus specialist with Manitoba Agriculture, told the same audience there were 80 operations confirmed positive, over one million pigs under surveillance and, at its height, an industry wondering what they could do to protect their operation. “When an operation breaks with a disease, we conduct a review of the farm’s activities, staff behaviors, and protocols,” said Ms. Harte. “This gives a snapshot of what occurred on the farm before infection to pinpoint a window of time for potential disease entry and the contributing factors.”

She said as the outbreaks grew, questions arose regarding why were barns close by to positive operations not contracting PEDv?

What was happening on negative operations, if anything, that was providing a protective effect? They also wondered if there could be enough difference in protocols between operations to produce a protective effect.

“To examine this question further, we surveyed to evaluate the biosecurity protocols of negative operations versus those of the positive operations. The survey questions focused on key biosecurity areas; entry and exit protocols of staff and animals, cleaning and washing protocols for barns and transportation, interactions of staff, service providers and the barn environment,” said Ms. Harte.

Jennifer Demare, of Swine Health Professionals of Steinbach, MB reflected on what they learned in tackling this PEDv outbreak and from the cleanup. Ms. Demare said like any disease outbreak everyone quickly becomes humbled and unsettled and they will remember for a long time the awareness of industry gaps that accompanied the 2017 outbreaks.

“Communication and collaboration are key to any successful disease outbreak and elimination strategy,” she said. “All parties require trust of each other and continual open and safe channels of communication.”

Next, said Ms. Demare, support to any employee or person involved should quickly be granted to ensure the mental well-being of farm workers. The protocols implemented are a tiring process, and staff turnover would slow down disease elimination success. “All must practice biosecurity, internal and external, seven days a week, 365 days a year to reduce disease spread on a site,” she said. “The benefits to following McRebel principles can increase piglet quality and reduce antibiotic use on the farm.” Ms. Demare concluded saying industry collaboration, and information sharing is a highly valuable tool. What if the next disease is a foreign animal disease? What cost would this bring to the Canadian swine industry?

Last but not least, international livestock consultant Dr. John Carr said he would never have moved nursery and finisher pigs to another site even if the lab says they are negative. “All the finishing pigs should go at the lowest weight possible in Manitoba not at the best weight maximizing profit,” said Dr. Carr. “We need to consider the greater good personally.” •

— By Harry Siemens

Difference between a litter affected by PEDv (left) and a healthy litter (right). Photo courtesy of Dr. John Carr