North American pork producers, in their proactive stance, take every precaution and focus on bio-security to keep disease-causing organisms off the farm. The Swine Health Information Center’s (SHIC) monthly domestic and global swine disease surveillance reports, released in its July eNewsletter, indicate African Swine Fever (ASF) remains the dominant worldwide concern and the most observed disease.
Dr. Lisa Becton, SHIC Associate Director, emphasized the ongoing presence of ASF, with outbreaks continuing in Germany, South Korea, Latvia, and India. “In Germany especially, it is concerning because we see wild boar become positive in areas in the western part of the country that have never seen it before. This tells us wild boar still present a significant risk for ASF spread.”
Commercial swine continues to test positive in other countries and on different farms. However, the ongoing efforts to focus on bio-security measures to exclude and prevent the virus from entering farms and to maintain day-to-day bio-security should reassure you. While ASF isn’t present in the U.S. and Canada, there are other diseases, and basic bio-security steps can reduce their risk of entering the farm.
Key focus areas include monitoring farm access, tracking visitors’ movements, ensuring transportation and sanitation standards, and regulating how supplies and feed enter the farm. “Prevent people from bringing in foods that could expose swine to ASF,” she advises. “For exclusion from the boar standpoint, we need to perform bio-security methods to prevent wild boar from accessing farms, such as fencing and reducing feed spills around the barn.”
Dr. Becton highlights the unique challenges and opportunities presented by the summer season. “In summer, we historically see a downward trend of many diseases, but that should not make us complacent. Summer brings challenges like heat stress, which can affect animals. We must always assess how to improve bio-security,” she recommends.
She advises taking advantage of the warmer weather for deep cleaning on farms, including barns between turns, assessing chutes and walkways, and utilizing sunlight and high temperatures to reduce disease. “When we assess diseases such as PCV3, it’s important to consider interventions on sow herds and gilt management strategies to reduce impact and positive cases,” Dr. Becton states.
SHIC hosted a PCV webinar earlier this year, providing tips for managing PCV and the latest information on the virus. Dr. Becton also notes a reduction in PRRS, with fewer positive cases in the wean-to-harvest category. “However, there are pockets of increased PRRS activity in certain states, including South Dakota and Indiana,” she observes.
SHIC’s global and domestic swine disease surveillance reports are available at swinehealth.org
A hog producer on the HB Hogs WhatsApp group recently received an award for practicing safe bio-security “Thanks, Manitoba Pork. I got this at unloading sows for practicing safe bio-security It’s worth it. Keep it up, boys. Wearing disposable clothes and not tracking offsite germs into my truck,” he shared, emphasizing the importance of these practices in preventing disease.
Pork producers are encouraged and motivated to stay vigilant and continuously improve bio-security measures to protect their herds from disease. •
— By Harry Siemens
