Pig producers in Canada’s Manitoba province have been urged by their chief veterinary officer to step up their focus on PEDv biosecurity as the weather turns colder.
While the province has identified just four on-farm cases of Porcine Epidemic Diarrhoea virus (PEDV) since February this year, two of these confirmed outbreaks came in September, ending an incident-free period of four months. As a result, Manitoba’s chief vet, Dr Megan Bergman, has warned producers that the virus “survives well in cold wet weather”, heightening the need for them to be “very vigilant” in their processes at this point.
“What we need to be really conscious of when we move into winter is the fact that our disinfectants will require a higher contact time in order to continue to be effective in cold weather,” she said. “We’ll often have to look at increasing the concentration of these disinfectants as well, to ensure they continue to work.”
In addition to her pre-winter warning, Dr Bergman also urged producers to stay with the “really good biosecurity plans” which were already in place Manitoba.
“Biosecurity will always be our main focus,” she added. “It’s our best method of keeping this virus out of our barns.
“We’re encouraging everyone to make sure that they’re stopping everyone as much as possible at the farm gate. If they don’t have to come onto the site, don’t let them come onto the site, and if individuals are required to come onto the site, that they’re following the protocols that have been established by both the farms and their private veterinarians. That’s going to be our best line of defence.”