Farmscape for November 8, 2011   (Episode 4003)

The Canadian Swine Health Board reports pork producers have responded positively to the call to be vaccinated against the seasonal flu.

As part of its third Canadian Swine Health Forum last week in Niagara Falls, the Canadian Swine Health Board sponsored a flu vaccination clinic in which participants were invited to receive their annual vaccinations against seasonal influenza.

The clinic was designed to draw attention to the value of flu vaccinations in protecting the productivity of both pigs and the people who look after them and to offer those who have not yet done so to be vaccinated.

Canadian Swine Health Board executive director Bob Harding says of the 140 to 150 people on hand for the conference just over 40, or about 30 percent, were vaccinated at the clinic and many had already been vaccinated.

Clip-Bob Harding-Canadian Swine Health Board:
Influenza is a funny beast.

It has the ability to move between species and, in 2001 for example, it spread to ferrets and dogs and certainly turkeys and so on.

It's really a precautionary thing.

It just makes good sense.

The Public Health Agency of Canada are encouraging everyone to get your flu shot.

We are echoing that in order to protect the health of our herd.

The other thing is for us it's an initiative towards one health i.e. health of animals and health of people and this is an opportunity to further the one health message here in our own industry.

Harding notes there has been some confusion over the role of swine in the spread of influenza.

He says, around the world during the H1N1 pandemic, it was confirmed humans actually spread the infection to pigs but there were no confirmed cases where pigs spread the infection to humans.

He adds flu is strictly a respiratory infection that has no impact on meat quality and can not be spread through eating meat.

For Farmscape.Ca, I'm Bruce Cochrane.

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