Applications swamp PED biosecurity program

Tuesday, March 25, 2014

by SUSAN MANN

More than 900 applications requesting a total of about $8 million in funding were submitted by the March 13 deadline for the Growing Forward 2 special biosecurity program to address challenges from porcine epidemic diarrhea virus.

Announced in January, the PED biosecurity program is funded by the provincial and federal governments to provide money to all sectors of the industry, including farmers, truckers, assembly facilities, abattoirs and rendering services to enhance biosecurity. Delivered by the Ontario Soil and Crop Improvement Association, the program was designed to support projects that helped respond quickly and effectively to risks and helped to reduce risks.

Barb Caswell, program coordinator for the Ontario Soil and Crop Improvement Association, says the application deadline was March 13. “We’re still processing applications.” She adds that applications came from all sectors of the industry.

PED first showed up in Ontario Jan. 22 on a Middlesex County farrow-to-finish operation. There are now 38 confirmed cases on farms throughout Ontario. There has also been one case each on farms in Prince Edward Island, Manitoba and Quebec. Confirmed samples have also been found at Ontario assembly yards, trucking yards and processing plants. PED genetic material was found in feed samples from Ontario farms with confirmed cases. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency is continuing to do its studies on feed as a contributing factor in the current PED virus situation. In addition, the agency is working with the Council of Chief Veterinary Officers and the Canadian pork industry to manage the possible risk of PED virus transmission through feed.

The virus doesn’t affect food safety and poses no risk to human health or other animals besides pigs. Pork is still a safe choice for consumers to eat. But the virus is a serious disease in swine production and it can cause 100 per cent mortality in piglets, while older pigs have vomiting and diarrhea but generally recover.

Mark Cripps, Ontario agriculture ministry spokesperson, says by email “we are pleased with the response to the special Growing Forward 2 intake created for the swine industry by the provincial and federal governments. The interest from all parts of the pork supply chain shows the determination and commitment of the industry to address the threat of PED and other diseases through implementing effective biosecurity practices.”

Ontario Pork chair Amy Cronin says they don’t know what projects farmers applied for but “we do know they were well educated with regards to PED and had a good understanding of things they could do on farm that really would make a difference in keeping the virus off their farm.”

Cronin adds that “we know the farm gate, the farm door is the most important place to stop this virus and it’s where farmers have the most control.”

She agrees with the province about the industry’s positive response to the program. “It was a program that was rolled out very quickly and we heard a lot of really positive comments from farmers,” she notes.

As for the program’s impact, Cronin says it will definitely help to minimize the spread of the virus and “it will help to minimize the risk to individual farmers.”

The projects farmers and other applied for aren’t yet completed to date so “we need to give the program time so producers can implement projects that they will be approved to do,” she says. “I do think it will definitely make a different in the risk at the farm gate and that was the intention of the program from the start.”

The Growing Forward 2 special biosecurity intake was offered in addition to the existing Growing Forward 2 funding assistance programs for biosecurity projects.

In other PED news, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency hosted an industry roundtable March 12 in Ottawa for the industry to work on a vision to stop and eliminate the virus in Canada.

Jean-Guy Vincent, Canadian Pork Council chair, says seven areas were identified “as the best way to go if we want to eliminate PED.” They are:

• Open communications among stakeholders.
• Biosecurity for both on and off farms.
• Ongoing active surveillance and reporting.
• Transportation measures, including at the border.
• Clarity of the PED virus risks associated with feed.
• Research to address PED virus knowledge gaps.
• Support for PED virus containment and elimination. BF