A deadly pig virus that surfaced on an Ontario farm is “under control,” with no other reported cases of the virus in Canada, provincial and federal officials said Friday.
The virus, Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea, has already killed millions of baby pigs in the U.S. but poses no threat to human health.
Greg Douglas, Ontario’s chief veterinarian, says lab tests conducted in Guelph, Ont., on Wednesday detected the virus and samples have been sent to a lab in Winnipeg for further testing.
“We’re not going to spread it any further than it is. I’m confident in that right now,” he told CTVNews.ca on Friday.
Douglas said the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Food is conducting an investigation at the London-area farm, trying to determine what brought the virus in as well as the locations of pigs, vehicles, and equipment that may have left the farm before the virus was detected.
PED is highly contagious, Douglas said, and can spread from one herd to another with relative ease. Someone transferring pigs to the United States from Canada, for example, can bring back a piece of infected manure on the bottom of their shoe and spread it to another herd. It can also be spread by manure and mud from tire trucks. Cold conditions also make it easier for PED to spread, Douglas added, as it as a higher likelihood of surviving on boots, clothing and tires.
The virus often shows symptoms in piglets because they have no immunity to the virus, with the mortality rate as high as 100 per cent.
Douglas said if the virus is contained in Canada, it shouldn’t have any significant effect on the pork industry.
That, however, hasn’t been the case in the in the U.S., where the virus has spread to 22 states since last spring. Millions of piglets have died, and pork prices have sky rocketed by upwards of 25 per cent.
The American Association of Swine Veterinarians still hasn’t been able determine how the virus entered the U.S.
Speaking at an event in Alberta Friday, federal Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz said “it was only a matter of time” before the pig virus turned up in Canada, but stressed that the situation is under control in Ontario.
“We take this seriously,” he said.
Ritz said there are no concerns at this time about the impact on the international pork trade industry.
Douglas said industry measures are in place to reduce the risk of the disease getting into Canada. He says the Canadian government has been working with Canadian Border services to makes sure trucks are thoroughly scrutinized before entering the country. He also says the swine trucking industry in the U.S. has been “more diligent” at cleaning trucks than in the past.
Bill Wymenga, a spokesperson for industry watchdog Ontario Pork, says the organization has been actively involved in promoting safety initiatives, encouraging producers to take bio-security training provide by the Canadian Swine Board.
Wymenga says that although he thinks the virus will be contained in the province, Ontario Pork is taking the situation seriously given what’s happened south of the border.
“Just with the way the disease is, we cannot be overly confident, we have to be very cautious,” he said. “We’ve heard comments from U.S. packers that they’re very concerned that they’re going to be short of hog.”
Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne said Friday that the provincial government is working closely with the Canadian Food Inspection Agency and the Ontario pork industry in its investigation into the London-area farm.
“Every precaution is being taken.” she said at a Toronto community centre, where she was helping kick off a new children’s health initiative. “The reality is pork products are safe. There is no human health issue here.”
