March 25, 2011

Devastating pig disease spreads in New Zealand

A pig disease which hit the North Island in 2003 and crossed to the South Island in 2006 is still spreading, and has cost New Zealand's economy at least NZD44 million (US$33 million).

Post-weaning multi-systemic wasting syndrome (PMWS) does not affect humans but attacks young pigs, causing emaciation, diarrhoea and breathing problems, and can kill up to 40% of a piggery's weaners in its early stages.

Found worldwide, apart from Australia, the disease inflicts a high death rate on pigs aged 6-12 weeks, and survivors may suffer from infertility.
 

"PMWS is still infecting new farms despite some with very stringent biosecurity practices," said New Zealand Pork chief executive Sam McIvor. "It emphasises just how hard to manage some of these modern diseases and viruses are."

"We should not take risks," McIvor said after telling parliamentarians that at a conservative estimate, the disease has now cost the nation's economy at least NZD44 million (US$33 million).

When the disease was first found on Ted and Irene Graham's Orini piggery, 24km east of Huntly in 2003, the industry argued that the outbreak occurred only after an unidentified infectious agent was fed to pigs in uncooked pork.

It said this probably happened when the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MAF) stopped spending money on enforcing pig swill regulations - which required people making pig swill to boil the food - and before new controls were introduced on cooking imported meat.

The disease had cost farmers NZD15 million (US$11 million) in lost income - as well as the money spent on breeding piglets which later fell sick - and the wider economy had lost another NZD29 million (US$22 million), equivalent to NZD1.92 (US$1.44) for every dollar spent at the farm gate.