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Industry Partners Diligent in Curbing Spread of PED in Oxford

Tuesday, 14 June 2016 06:24

Strict bio-security measures are in place in various aspects of the farming industry to try and keep PED from spreading in Oxford.

There is a long road ahead for one finisher farm in Oxford County where PED was discovered.

Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea can cause vomiting, diarrhea, and even death in piglets.

Veterinarian with Ontario Pork Mike DeGroote says now that the virus has been found, they are focusing on ensuring it does not spread any further.

"So we want to focus on on-farm bio-security and stop the spread there. Also in the transport industry that's where we see a lot of the bugs being spread around, is when pigs are on the move. So the transporters are working well to make sure their bio-security is up to date and washing the trailers as much as possible."

DeGroote says it could be months before things can return to normal on the affected farm.

"The industry has gotten a lot better at handling the positive cases and especially in finisher sites, being able to eliminate the virus in a relatively quick period of time. Each farm is a little bit different, but hopefully in 3 to 6 months the virus can be eliminated from the farm."

Although the disease can be devastating to pigs, there is no risk to humans.

"PED does not affect humans at all and it's not a food safety issue either. So that's the good news with the disease that we're dealing with - it's only related to pigs, not other species."

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