Manitoba Pork hosted a town hall meeting on December 7 via Zoom to update producers on the current PED outbreak. Chairing this session, Manitoba Pork’s Jenelle Hamblin outlined the current status of the outbreak which stood at 22 and since climbed to 27. The majority of outbreaks are in the high-risk area for PEDv.
Manitoba Pork reports Manitoba’s latest Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea outbreak has followed patterns similar to those in 2017 and 2019 with 64 cases of PED confirmed as of January 26, 2022 in Manitoba.
“The reason is the majority of our cases or a large number of our cases either begin in that area or continues in that area in previous years and 2021 is no different. In and around, Richot, Ste. Anne, Randolph, and Tourond area are where the majority, 19 of our current 21 cases are, with two of them having jumped the 75 highway over here around the 305 Brunkild area.”
Fortunately, they had biocontainment implemented at the onsite of clinical signs, if not earlier, for the majority of the cases. So when the breaks started in that high-risk area, many producers were on high alert, implementing some level of biocontainment even before seeing the clinical signs on their farm. This helped lock things down a little bit earlier. Entire case investigations are underway working with IPs, the herd veterinarians, the CBO and the MPC.
“We implemented surveillance of nursery farms surrounding the five-kilometre buffer area, a practice in place since 2019, and acts as a bit of a perimeter surveillance to see if the virus is expanding outside of current buffer areas.”
Hamblin said the MPC encouraged producers and many to test before moving if located in a buffer area to minimize risk. This is extremely useful for ensuring the virus doesn’t move further than necessary. And lastly, of course, enhanced biosecurity is essential and critical not only in the buffer areas in that southeast part of Manitoba but throughout the province.
Looking back at PED in Manitoba, no one will forget the big years of 2017 and 2019 with major outbreaks. With 27 cases as of December 17, 2021, the trend doesn’t look good, surpassing case numbers for 2018 this year.
As of December 17, 2021, 188 of the 219 total cases in Manitoba previously confirmed to have PED, are now determined to be PED Presumptive Negative following a negative status protocol developed by the Chief Veterinary Office (CVO) and Manitoba’s swine veterinarians.
In terms of repeat cases in 2021, nine are first-time breaks, six are the second break, four are their third break of PED, and two are, unfortunately, their fourth break of PED throughout cases in Manitoba. Seven of the first breaks are in the high-risk area, two of which are in the Brunkild area. Breaking that down a little bit more in terms of risk probabilities, they found a 17.5 per cent probability of infection for premises that never broke with PED before and a 32.4 per cent probability of infection if the premises were infected previously. So nearly double, if broken with the PEDv before.
Hamblin told the Zoom meeting there are many factors that play into why that might be. For example, analysis in the past on barn age and design which is a factor that contributes to PED and some area spread and biosecurity factors are at play.
“We continue to operate our PED surveillance program at high traffic facilities in Manitoba such as our federal abattoirs, assembly yards, wash facilities, and positive dock samples continue to come in with immediate follow-up,” she said.
This is an excellent indicator of what is happening, the level of shedding in the province and validating the practices at the facilities. Cleaning and disinfecting docks at the end of each day with protocols for accepting PEDv recovered sites.
“We are at the point in the outbreak where our earlier cases have held and followed that for the timeframe to hold the animals, and they will be considered recovered and moving into slaughter.”
Hamblin said there is risk associated with this putting in risk mitigation measures including moving those animals on designated days, going through designated docks and communicating out to the sector when those animals will move. Communication and outreach continue to be a strength in Manitoba.
The same risk factors today, as in the other outbreaks, meaning nothing has changed from previous outbreaks.
One thing for sure in this outbreak is that manure application is not a factor because farmers don’t spread it in winter. But, absolutely looking at on-farm and transport biosecurity breaches this time around.
The cold weather causes issues with disinfectant concentration contact time leading to some difficulties in cleaning and disinfection in the cold. It certainly is not as easy to thoroughly clean a loading dock or even a trailer as in the summer months.
“We much encourage producers to clean, wash, disinfect and bake of transport trailers because of the increased risk and the enhanced viral load in the southeast but also at high traffic facilities. We need to be treating those as high risk.”
Hamblin said things tend to change quickly but seem on the downward trend for case numbers in the last few weeks.
“That doesn’t mean we’re in a position to let down our guard and due diligence in terms of biosecurity remains key. Continued strict biosecurity remains key to containing the PEDv outbreak. So, the biggest message is to please don’t take our feet off the gas when it comes to biosecurity.”
When visiting a high traffic facility, an assembly yard, an abattoir, no matter which one it may be that one visits, please know that there is a risk. Also feel free to reach out to MPC or the herd veterinarian to talk about biosecurity. Finally, contact MPC if specific questions, techniques, and strategies a producer want to try out on the farm based on that system’s flow and design.
Manitoba Pork is working closely with the office of Manitoba’s Chief Veterinarian and confirmed infected premises. Since the first confirmed case of 2021 on October 25, ManPork communicates to producers through the Manitoba Coordinate Disease Response system, Direct to Producer messages, and the newsletter Chop Talk.
MPC has reports of suspicious individuals attending farmyards across the province with various reasons for attending the farms.
“Trespassers and unwanted visitors on our farms and in our barns threaten the critically important and detailed work of maintaining biosecurity. Therefore, we want to take this opportunity to remind producers to be vigilant when it comes to visitors and potential trespassers.”
Here is a list to remind the producers as published in the latest Chop Talk:
*Always lock barn doors, even when working elsewhere on the property.
*Install “Biosecurity Area; No Trespassing” signs at every entry point onto your property (main driveways, barn driveways, dirt roads into your fields, etc.)
*Be polite and respectful but firm in informing uninvited visitors that they’re trespassing on private property and need to leave.
*Should unwanted visitors not leave immediately, make them aware that you will call the police, and call the police should they still not leave. Do not threaten them or physically attempt to remove them from your property. Assume they are recording your behaviour.
*Get as much information as possible about the visitor, including name, description of the person and vehicle, license plate number, the reason for the visit, etc. If you’re able to, take a photo and video. •
— By Harry Siemens
