Porcine Sapovirus Found Alone and with Coinfections in Cases of Diarrhea During Quarter 4

Feb 12, 2024

The Manager of the Canada West Swine Health Intelligence Network is encouraging pork producers to focus on addressing coinfections first, when Porcine Sapovirus is suspected in cases of diarrhea.The Canada West Swine Health Intelligence Network has released its Quarter four report for 2023.

CWSHIN Manager Dr. Jette Christensen says Sapovirus was first mentioned in January last year and has been discussed during every quarterly call since.

Quote-Dr. Jette Christensen-Canada West Swine Health Intelligence Network:

Sapovirus has been seen in cases with diarrhea, both alone but also in combination with other viruses that cause diarrhea.It seems to be very frequent but we don't know exactly how important it is in causing diarrhea because sometimes it's seen alone and possibly causing diarrhea and sometimes it's seen together with other viruses and bacteria that we know can cause diarrhea on its own so there's still some knowledge that we need to dig out.

The challenge is what to do if you find Sapovirus and you think it's causing diarrhea in your herd.There's been an attempt of vaccination and it's not easy.
It's hard to get the vaccine, it's hard to store the vaccine because it needs minus 70 freezers so, right now, the recommendation is if there's Sapovirus make sure that you get a good handle and control all other viruses and bacteria that might be contributing to the diarrhea first.Only then might you talk to your vet and see if you can get vaccination going.It's not the first option right now.

Dr. Christensen notes Prairie Diagnostic Services in Saskatoon has offered a test since July for Sapovirus and is testing every case of diarrhea for Sapovirus to gain further insight into the infection and Veterinary Diagnostic Services in Winnipeg is expected to be offering a test for Sapovirus shortly.

Source : Farmscape.ca

Video: Western Canadian Agriculture: Hard Times Made the World's Best Farmers

Western Canadian agriculture produced the most advanced farmers in the world not through abundance but through adversity. The crow rate fell. The wheat price went nowhere. The brown envelopes stopped.

When the subsidies disappeared, the bad farmers left and the good ones stayed. And the ones who stayed could not just grow wheat anymore. They started growing lentils and canola and peas and flax and faba beans. They built crop rotation. They got serious about agronomy because there was no government backstop. That process produced the Western Canadian agriculture Dennis Bulani describes in this clip: the most advanced, most educated farming culture in the world.

His contrast with Iowa corn and soybean farmers is sharp. At a DeKalb farmer meeting in Okoboji, Iowa, he asked what crop rotation they ran. Beans on corn stubble, corn on bean stubble. How do you fertilize? The co-op agronomist handles it. Have you considered other crops? No need. We make so much money on corn and soybeans. Western Canadian agriculture was never allowed that comfort. And now those Iowa farmers are watching soybean markets lock up with China and corn prices slide, and they do not have the agronomy knowledge or the research base to pivot. Western Canadian farmers adapted on a dime because they had done it before.

Dennis also makes the case that Western Canadian agriculture keeps adapting in real time. Low commodity prices over the past year have pushed growers to look seriously at precision spot-spray technology. He knows a neighbor who bought a sprayer with the seeing-eye system and sprayed only 80 out of 320 acres. As a chemical retailer Dennis acknowledges that will affect his sales. He supports it anyway, because if it advances Canadian agriculture and makes farmers money, that is a good outcome.

The lesson Dennis draws from the tale of two farms: continuous improvement is the only durable strategy. When canola was $22 a bushel some growers went to Arizona instead of the Crop Production Show. When the price came down those same growers came back to the research and the discipline. Products do not go on Rack Petroleum's shelves unless they pass a replicated trial first. That is what Western Canadian agriculture built through hard times: farmers who do the work whether the times demand it or not.

Dennis Bulani is CEO of Rack Petroleum and Ultimate Yield in Biggar, Saskatchewan. Dan Aberhart hosts GTF Productions, Western Canadian Agriculture's foremost live briefing platform and its foremost AI training platform for ag operators