Porcine Epidemic
Diarrhea virus appears to be spreading from packing-plant unloading docks to
hog farms.
The Ontario Pork
Industry Council is stepping up its surveillance of federally-inspected hog
slaughter plants because of the pattern of nine outbreaks, most of them at
finishing barns.
So far six of the
30 samples it has tested, or 20 per cent, have contained the virus.
The council is
alerting hog farmers to step up their biosecurity measures.
It recommends
that farmers consult their veterinarian and check the websites for either the Ontario
Pork marketing board or OPIC for biosecurity protocols.
The council
writes in a statement released today that “surveillance and trace back results indicate that
producers and truckers should consider processing facilities, abattoirs and
assembly yards as high risk for PEDV transmission and should take
appropriate biosecurity precautions.”
