A one-month PEDv “dialogue” is due to be launched by Defra on Monday, August 3, to help set the way forward for a joint Government/industry approach to the disease, including deciding whether or not to make it notifiable in England.
According to a report on the National Pig Association (NPA) website, the Defra dialogue will include a proposal to make PEDv notifiable, subject to producers’ views. NPA said this was a “ground-breaking” approach for the following reasons:
- It proposes a new lightweight kind of notifiable regime, where producers and vets will be required to report suspicion of the disease, so advice and support can be provided via levy-payer funds.
- There will be no statutory movement controls, no compulsory slaughter and no blocks on exports.
- Because the measure has been sought by industry, including NPA and the Pig Veterinary Society, Government has decided a full-blown consultation should be replaced by a less bureaucratic website dialogue, or “conversation” with the industry.
It is also stated that if the dialogue generates widespread industry support for making PEDv “lightweight notifiable”, the new measure will come into force by mid-November.
