The Ontario Pork Industry Council is alerting farmers to be
extra cautious about where their trucker has been, now that many are hauling
hogs from Quebec to the United States.
Olymel, the dominant Quebec packer, is on strike.
Those returning trailers could infect unloading chutes at
Ontario packing plants.
As a result, the council says Ontario farmers should insist
that their truckers have thoroughly cleaned, washed and disinfected their
trailers before coming to their barns.
Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea virus is widespread in the United
States, so any Canadian hog shipments to American packers could become infected
and bring the highly-contagious virus back to Canada.
The virus is particularly resilient in the kind of cold
weather being experienced this week.
