Monday, July 7, 2014

Ontario has more than official pig virus outbreaks

Ontario has more barns with Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea virus than the official count of 62.

The Ontario Pork Industry Council says in its most recent information update that besides the 62, there are “maybe 50 additional sites” that may be revealed if and when farmers participate in the Ontario Swine Health Advisory Board’s voluntary ARC&E (Area Regional Control and Eradication) program.

The federal and provincial governments are contributing funds to help the industry adopt stricter biosecurity measures and to help eliminate the virus where there have been outbreaks.

There are 62 primary cases of PED and Delta Coronavirus (DCV) in Ontario with 28 listed as sow sites and another 34 growing pig sites infected, says the Ontario Pork Industry Council (OPIC), which works hand-in-glove with the Ontario Swine Health Advisory Board (OSHAB).

“To date, the total number of PED positive sites enrolled in the OSHAB PED ARC&E is 70,” says the council.

“This figure includes 34 PED-virus primary clinical cases and two delta coronavirus primary clinical cases for a total of 36 primary clinical cases or 58 per cent of the primary cases.

“There are 34 secondary sites enrolled. These are sites which may have been contaminated by pig movement,” says OPIC.



There have been single outbreaks in Prince Edward Island and Quebec and two in Manitoba, and there have been no new outbreaks there since early May. The first Canadian outbreak was in late January in Middlesex County where the biggest city is London.