Manitoba's chief veterinary officer has decided to add porcine epidemic diarrhea (PED) virus to the list of reportable diseases in the province.
That means within a few days, producers and veterinarians will be required to report all suspected cases of the devastating pig disease to the chief vet.
After confirming the first case of PED in the province almost two weeks ago, the provincial vet's office has taken samples from more than 45 farms that had contact with the infected operation. The majority of this testing is complete and no new cases have been found.
Meanwhile, the Canadian Border Services Agency has started enforcing an existing provision of making sure pig trucks returning from the US are washed and disinfected. If a truck arrives at the border without proof of having been properly cleaned, the CBSA will not allow entry, or will seal the trailer with a numbered tag that cannot be broken except at accredited truck washes in Manitoba.
In addition to making sure trucks are properly cleaned, producers are encouraged to talk with their feed supplier after spray-dried porcine plasma used by a feed supplier in Ontario tested positive for PED DNA and was shown to be able to infect pigs.
As of Friday, there were 23 cases of PED confirmed in Canada, with one in Manitoba.
Source: SteinbachOnline