Farmscape for December 1, 2020

The Manager of the Canada West Swine Health Intelligence Network is encouraging rule out testing for African Swine Fever in the event producers notice discoloration of the skin of their pigs.
The Canada West Swine Health Intelligence Network has released its swine disease surveillance report for the third quarter of 2020.
CWSHIN Manager Dr. Jette Christensen says a "black pig event" was reported two weeks into finishing and the pigs did recover.

Clip-Dr. Jette Christensen-Canada West Swine Health Intelligence Network:
Black pig is just like purple sows, a condition where you see discolouring of the skin, purple, red.
We had it last year, I believe, in finishers that had big patches of purple skin over the shoulders.
There are many pathogens or causes of this discoloring of the skin.
The practitioners that we talked with say that it could be a Clostridium septicum which is a bacteria on the skin that can cause this.
It could typically happen when you've handled pigs, when you've mixed pigs or moved them about but it's rare.
There's a few practitioners that have seen a case every year, every two years but it's still important to keep an eye on.
It's important now that we have Can Spot ASF, the Canadian surveillance system to monitor and test for African Swine Fever.
The first tool was rolled out in August and pigs with this discoloring could be eligible for testing for ASF.
Again, provincial laboratories in all four provinces can test for ASF.

Dr. Christensen says symptoms don’t necessarily mean you have ASF on your farm but it is a situation where you can contribute to the greater good of the swine sector by calling your practitioner to get rule out testing for ASF.
She says you need a good diagnosis, because it's probably something else.
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Bruce Cochrane.

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