Avoid Potential PED Contamination When Spreading Manure, Canada Officials Urge
The Canada West Swine Health Intelligence Network urges pork producers in Manitoba to be especially cautious when spreading manure this fall due to the high number of manure storages contaminated with porcine epidemic diarrhea (PED) virus.
The latest Canada West Swine Health Intelligence Network swine disease surveillance report for the second quarter of 2022 pointed out that extra care with biosecurity needs to be in place for the fall manure spreading season.
Jette Christensen, CWSHIN manager, says this recent PED outbreak started in Maintoba in October 2021 and has affected 122 premises since then.
"The good news is that since the last case or the last premise was declared positive for PED on July 12 and since this early to mid-July, there's been no new cases which is pretty good," Christensen said on Farmscape.ca.
All status changes for PED after July 12 have been to an improved status, Christensen said, either recovered to transitional or to presumptive negative.
Still, with that number of infected premises, don't underestimate the risk of contaminated manure storage. Remember these storages pose a risk for spread of PED, CWSHIN urged.
Biosecurity and Manure Handling Tips
The University of Nebraska-Lincoln says it's important not to overlook the potential for disease transfer due to manure handling equipment moving among manure storages or farms.
"If a producer operates their own pumping equipment, they will know if PEDV or other diseases are a risk on their farm and should be able to take extra precautions to avoid spreading the disease to other facilities or farms that they own," UNL writes on its website. "If a custom pumping crew is handling a farm’s manure, communicating clearly up front to convey expectations and concerns to them is key for the farm owner or operator."
UNL urges producers to ask them where they’ve been prior to coming to their site and discuss their expectations related to biosecurity. Be present when they show up to pump so that the area where they should travel, protective clothing they should use and methods for cleaning equipment before and after pumping can be conveyed.
Remember, custom manure haulers have the opportunity to be very proactive about biosecurity, too, the article says.
"If a producer doesn’t offer up information about their biosecurity practices and requirements, it’s a good idea to ask what they require of visitors to maintain their farm’s biosecurity. Be prepared to tell them where you’ve been, when you were there, how you cleaned and disinfected equipment and what the disease status of previous sites might have been," UNL writes.
Custom manure haulers should confirm the owner’s preferred routes for entry and exit from the site, ask where their line or lines of separation are and wear protective coveralls, boots, etc. that can be left at the site when departing.
Implement a protocol to clean and disinfect equipment between sites, which may include some scheduled downtime for equipment to ensure that disease-causing organisms are not persisting in or on equipment.
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