Farmscape for December 6, 2005  (Episode 1987)

A Swine Veterinarian with Alberta Agriculture Food and Rural Development says several factors that exist in Canada help reduce the risk of avian influenza getting an opportunity to cross the species barrier into swine.

Alberta Agriculture's Influenza Action Team is actively canvassing swine and poultry producers to make sure their biosecurity is where it should be.

Because flu viruses change so rapidly, there's concern that allowing the organism to pass from people to pigs to birds will give the infection an opportunity to mutate.

Dr. Julia Keenliside says usually swine flu doesn't jump to birds and avian influenza doesn't jump to pigs but there have been cases where swine flu has been known to infect poultry.

Clip-Dr. Julia Keenliside-Agriculture Food and Rural Development 

Some of the things that are already in place is that many pigs barns are shower in shower out facilities.

You have to take a shower before you go in.

You have to change your coveralls and boots.

They house only swine in the buildings.

Most of the poultry operations house only poultry.

Also, because these animals are housed indoors, they don't have contact with wild waterfowl which can also carry certain strains of avian influenza so there's another barrier there.

I think, from an agriculture point of view, we want to keep our systems separate with birds and pigs just to prevent these viruses from jumping back and forth and being given the chance to mutate.

Reality is, with the way pigs are raised today, there's very little contact between large pig operations and most poultry operations.

There's a lot of biosecurity going on.

They're housed in separate buildings so really in this country there isn't a lot of opportunity for those viruses to mix back and forth, unlike places China where you have outdoors, pigs, waterfowl and chickens being commingled as they're being raised.

To further reduce the risk of spreading an infection to the herd, Dr. Keenliside encourages people who may be exhibiting flu symptoms to avoid entering the swine barns.

For Farmscape.Ca, I'm Bruce Cochrane.

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