The Swine Health Information Center reports a concerning increase in the global identification of Foot and Mouth Disease. As part of its April eNewsletter the Swine Health Information Center has released its monthly global and domestic swine health monitoring reports.
SHIC Associate Director Dr. Lisa Becton says, while North America remains free of Foot and Mouth Disease, new cases have been reported in Asia and Europe..
Quote-Dr. Lisa Becton-Swine Health Information Center:
We’re seeing a concerning increase in the identification of Foot and Mouth Disease SAT 1 in two provinces in China and this was identified there for the first time. In Greece Foot and Mouth Disease outbreaks continue with a new outbreak in Lesvos and that had not been seen there in 25 years. In Greece there's been 17 confirmed outbreaks since March 27th and so that is concerning.
There continues to be a threat across the globe because of the expansion of the range of some of these newer serotypes like SAT 1 that are being identified in areas that they had not been identified in before and so that always raises concern of what are those risk factors for transmission. A lot of times it is not known how these viruses are moving around and the epidemiology of infection so that's also of concern.
Lastly, for our risks in North America, we have another virus, Senecavirus A, that looks very similar to Foot and Mouth Disease virus and can only be told apart with the use of diagnostic tests so, if we aren't testing lesions like Foot and Mouth Disease every time assuming that it may be SVA, we might be missing those cases and putting the health of all of our pigs at risk.
The Swine Health Information Center's global and domestic swine health monitoring reports can be accessed at through SHIC's April eNewsletter at swinehealth.org.
Source : Farmscape.ca