Better Pork - 2016 December

Better Pork

December 2016

SWINE

HEALTH

ONTARIO

here’s been a shift in the land-

scape of swine health in

Ontario over the last 12

months. The overall goal is a more

collaborative and proactive response

to swine health in the province, say

industry leaders.

That goal led to last year’s creation

of Swine Health Ontario (SHO), a

leadership team of seven individuals

representing the province’s swine

health stakeholders. The team’s focus

is to take an industry-wide view of

swine health and to develop a long-

term strategy for the industry.

SHO’s member organizations

include Ontario Pork, Ontario Pork

Industry Council (OPIC) and the

Ontario Swine Health Advisory

Board (OSHAB), as well as the On-

tario Ministry of Agriculture, Food

and Rural Affairs as an ex-officio

member. The seven-member SHO

team includes Clare Schlegel, Amy

Cronin, Dr. Doug MacDougald, Jay

Squire, Mark Yungblut, Dr. David

Alves, Dr. Cathy Furness and man-

ager Lori Moser.

“Swine Health Ontario is not a

separate legal entity, but rather a

management group that provides

direction and ensures swine health

efforts are coordinated amongst the

partners at the table,” explains Jay

Squire, leadership team member and

chair of OPIC. “The roles and re-

sponsibilities of the individual orga-

nizations have largely remained the

same, but by working together under

the SHO umbrella, we can do things

we wouldn’t be able to individually,”

adds Squire.

Swine Health Ontario providing leadership

and strategy

Swine Health Ontario is directing its

energies toward developing a swine

health strategy for Ontario. This will

include the entire cycle of health

management: planning and preven-

tion, early detection, response plans,

recovery and support systems, and

continual improvement.

“We will make a difference by cre-

ating a health strategy that is proac-

tive, practical and responsive,” says

Squire. “For the long term, the hope

is that Swine Health Ontario will

take an increasingly important role

in being a champion for swine health

across the entire Ontario industry.”

SHO has identified the following

target areas as being critical to move

the provincial industry towards a

culture of continuous improvement

in swine health management through

a proactive, practical and responsive

plan that engages the entire industry.

Delivering on Strategic Goals

To help advance these goals, OSHAB

has taken the lead on eliminating

Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea (PED)

from Ontario, targeting swine farms

as the first step. This effort is sup-

ported by industry sponsorship and

is funded in part through Growing

Forward 2 (GF2), a federal-provin-

cial-territorial initiative. The Agricul-

tural Adaptation Council assists in

the delivery of GF2 in Ontario.

“OSHAB is continuing its role in

health project implementation for

OPIC and now also for Swine Health

Ontario,” says Dr. Marty Misener,

OSHAB chair. “We run projects that

fit within our mandate and the SHO

leadership group sets the strategy and

long-term plans for swine health in

Ontario.”

Swine Health Ontario is a leadership

team focused on improving and coordi-

nating the industry’s ability to prevent,

prepare for and respond to serious

swine health threats in Ontario.

What is SwineHealthOntarioandhowdoes it

impact theprovince’s other swineorganizations?

The leadership team has identified four target areas and goals to achieve by 2019.

by LILIAN SCHAER for SWINE HEALTH ONTARIO

Swine Health Ontario Target Areas

Goal Statement

(3-year time frame, 2016 to 2019)

Targeted Disease Management – starting with PED

Elimination

Eliminate Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea (PED) from the Ontario swine industry with an effec-

tive response in place for any new outbreaks. Use these processes as a model to manage

any future disease challenges.

Swine Health Information System

Develop a swine health information system including an accurate, real-time surveillance

system, database and mapping tool to detect, track, monitor and report on disease.

Swine Health Ontario Command Centre

Establish a command centre for the Ontario swine industry using a step-by-step ap-

proach to develop, test and implement systems and protocols.

Disease Prevention

Improve disease prevention through biosecurity and risk management measures.