The Ontario
Pork marketing board has issued an alert to its members to watch for symptoms
of Senecavirus A after the disease has been confirmed in the province.
The alert
comes about a week after U.S. officials determined that cull sows exported from
Canada were infected with the disease.
The
symptoms are similar to foot and mouth disease and so packing plants could be
shut down for up to 72 hours, awaiting test results that distinguish between
relatively harmless Senecavirus A and devastatingly-dangerous foot and mouth
disease.
“Plant
closure will immediately stop the flow of hogs and shipping of pork products from that facility,” says the pork
board in its alert to members.
“If a plant
is shut down, its customers and suppliers will be notified of pending
production and product delays/cancellations.”
The board
says producers should watch for the symptoms, which include blisters or ulcers on
snouts or around mouths and/or just above hooves; lameness, fevers, lack of
energy and/or appetite and increased mortality, without diarrhea, in piglets
four to 10 days old.
If these
symptoms do show up, producers should immediately stop all movement of hogs and
potentially contaminated stuff off their premises and contact a veterinarian
for help.
They should
also contact the Canadian Food Inspection Agency and stay at the barn until
inspectors and their veterinarian arrive.
They should
also contact their livestock trucker and packing plant or assembly yard if they
shipped hogs 12 to 24 hours before they noticed the symptoms.
The board
urges producers to increase biosecurity, including service people such as
truckers. The measures are similar to those taken to prevent the spread of
Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea virus (PED).
The board
suggests producers “ask your plant, marketer and/or assembly yard about their
processes to address this
disease”
if they detect any symptoms of this virus.
