The Director of the Emergency Management Division of Animal Health Canada is encouraging the public to become aware of and involved in the effort to eradicate wild pigs from the environment.Animal Health Canada chairs the African Swine Fever Executive Management Board, a body which includes representation from the federal, provincial and territorial governments and the swine sector and that was created to support the development and delivery of strategies that will enhance African Swine Fever prevention, response planning and preparedness.
As part of the effort to build awareness of the risks posed by wild pigs and to bring together those involved in dealing with wild pigs, Animal Health Canada in partnership with Assiniboine Community College, Squeal on Pigs Manitoba and Manitoba Pork is hosting the Wild Pig Summit this week in Brandon.
Erica Charlton, the Director of the Emergency Management Division of Animal Health Canada, says wild pigs are present across Canada but the hot spots are the prairie provinces.
Quote-Erica Charlton-Animal Health Canada:
They cause a lot of ground damage with the rooting that they do and the foraging and disturbing crops and things like that but the real risk is they're carriers of African Swine Fever more than anything.The World Organization of Animal Health says that, if you find a case of African Swine Fever in the country, regardless of if it's in domestic pigs or feral then you'll have trade implications and borders are closed.
So there's a real concern from the commercial side that the risks that these animals pose as well as the risk of potential wildlife and domestic interface and somehow those pigs transferring it to the commercial side as well so disease risk and then environment impacts as well, more than anything.
Charlton suggests, if you google "squeal on pigs", you'll find information on efforts in the various jurisdictions to address wild pigs and information on how to report sightings.
Source : Farmscape.ca