Manitoba Providing Ongoing Support to Help Address PED in Alberta

The manager of Swine Health Programs says lessons learned in Manitoba are being shared with animal health officials in Alberta as they deal with Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea

by Bruce Cochrane – FarmScape Online

Alberta’s pork sector is being encouraged to remain focused on biosecurity following the latest confirmed case of Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea in that province.

Jenelle Hamblin, the Manager of Swine Health Programs with Manitoba Pork, says Manitoba Pork and Manitoba Agriculture have been sharing the lessons they have learned in dealing with the infection and producers from Manitoba have been discussing their experiences with those impacted in Alberta.

“The relationship and the collaboration has been really great and they’ve been looking to us for information on how we did things and what worked well”

 

“As of Friday, March 1st Alberta has three confirmed cases of PED.

“One was confirmed in early January of this year, the second in February and the third case confirmed just last week.

“Manitoba is working very closely with Alberta Agriculture and Alberta Pork, mostly in an advisory role.

“We have been providing them with our experiences and intelligence that was gained and lessons learned from our outbreaks that we have experienced here in Manitoba.

“The relationship and the collaboration has been really great and they’ve been looking to us for information on how we did things and what worked well, and what didn’t work so well, and what approaches that they should be taking to best deal with, not only looking back and finding sources, but as well as eliminating the virus and dealing with it on the ground.

“It’s great to have that type of relationship between the provinces and we here at Manitoba Pork and with Manitoba Agriculture are very willing to assist anyone that should be facing these types of questions being that we have had these types of experiences before.”

Hamblin applauds those producers in Manitoba who have been willing to take the time to share their experiences with their counterparts in Alberta.

She says that producer to producer contact is critical and those in Manitoba who have dealt with PED are ready to share any insight or assistance they can.

FarmScape was launched by Wonderworks Canada in partnership with Manitoba Pork