Farmscape for June 2, 2015

Saskatchewan's Chief Veterinary Officer is encouraging swine producers to clearly outline to their transporters the level of cleanliness they expect of swine transport vehicles that come to their farms.
The Saskatchewan Ministry of Agriculture continues to monitor high risk and comingling sites for Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea, Swine Delta Coronavirus, and TGE, and receives reports of suspect or positive results from producer-submitted samples.
During the last reporting period Swine Delta Coronavirus suspect or positive samples were detected at a truck wash, in stored feed, and on an on-farm loading dock, and the truck wash was also found to be positive for PED, but the province's swine herd has remained free of Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea and Swine Delta Coronavirus.
Saskatchewan Chief Veterinary Officer, Dr. Betty Althouse says, as always, the message remains biosecurity, biosecurity, biosecurity.

Clip-Dr. Betty Althouse-Saskatchewan Ministry of Agriculture:
You want to make sure that there's really no chance that fecal material from a previous load is left in a transport trailer so that washing and disinfection is really critical, making sure that you discuss with transporters what your standards for cleanliness are, whether it's a double wash or whether you actually want some monitoring done on the truck before it comes onto your site and just to be very aware that any manure can have enough of the virus in it to infect the herd and have to be very cautious.
The messaging really hasn't changed from the beginning.
We know how this disease is transmitted and it is through the fecal oral route.
I think producers and transporters are very aware of that.
What we have to remember at all times is not to get complacent and to keep up vigilance.

Dr. Althouse commends producers, swine veterinarians, and truckers and transporters on the job they've been doing on biosecurity.
She says it's a lot of work to maintain that level of cleaning and disinfection, and follow strict biosecurity programs all the time, but the effort has certainly paid off.
For Farmscape.Ca, I'm Bruce Cochrane.

       *Farmscape is a presentation of Sask Pork and Manitoba Pork Council