The Ontario Pork Council is warning that TGE has broken out
on a hog farm in Wellington County.
It’s a devastating and highly-infectious disease, so the
industry ought to be moving to the strictest level of biosecurity measures.
TGE stands for Transmissable Gastro Enteritis.
It can wipe out piglets that are less than a week old within
two to three days.
They develop watery diarrhea, become dehydrated and die.
Antibiotics are not effective.
It spreads rapidly, so within days can be throughout an
entire nursery of finishing barn where pigs will be vomiting and have watery
diarrhea.
The good news is that the death rate is usually low and
herds get over an outbreak in three to five weeks.
But the setback can delay delay gains to market weight by
five to 10 days.
Manure is a high risk to spread the disease. Other avenues
are through the purchase of pigs to add to the herd, on clothing and boots and
birds, especially starlings.
Iodine is an effective disinfectant. Quaternary ammonia and
peroxygen are also recommended disinfectants. Sunlight also kills the
caronavirus.
The Animal Health Laboratory at the University of Guelph
confirmed TGE as the reason for the outbreak at the hog farm and the Ontario
Pork Council issued an alert Friday afternoon, Jan. 11.
