April 11, 2018

Number of Manitoba, Canada farms affected by PEDV outbreak drops

All but four of 80 swine sites in Manitoba, Canada, which were impacted by a Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea outbreak last year, have achieved or are close to reaching a presumptive negative status, Manitoba Pork reported. 

These premises were first hit by the outbreak in April 2017 and are located across southeastern Manitoba.

At the Manitoba Pork Annual General meeting, Jenelle Hamblin, manager of Swine Health Programs with Manitoba Pork, revealed that the number of new infections peaked during June and July before dwindling, with the last cases reported towards the end of October. 

Hamblin noted that the eradication of the virus "has gone extremely well."

"Currently, of the 80 infected premises, we're sitting at 64 of which that have reached presumptive negative status meaning that their animals and their contact areas, the barn itself, have all tested negative for the virus. Of course, with the exclusion of the manure storage, which is why we call it that presumptive negative status," she said.

"We are sitting currently at 12 at the transitional status, meaning they have removed all previously infected animals from their site and are working to clean and test to reach that presumptive negative status. Lastly, we remain at four premises that remain positive."

Hamblin attributed the effectiveness of eradication to a high level of biosecurity at restricted access zones, right at the barn level, as well as segregation of the affected operations.

- mySteinbach