REGINA – Saskatchewan’s pork producers are raising concerns over a recent change to biosecurity regulations by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA).
The change sees Canadian livestock trucks resort back to being cleaned at American washing facilities; ones producers fear could be contaminated with a dangerous virus.
“There could be 1,000 of those little viruses on the edge of a dime.”- Neil Ketilson, GM of Sask Pork.
Porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDv) has ravaged American pig populations since 2014.
“When the herd becomes infected with the virus it can quickly spread just through the normal activities in the barn,” Swine Veterinarian Dave Kaminski said from his Moose Jaw, Sask. practice.
“If the pigs contact the virus and have no immunity to it, they can get severe diarrhea that can kill them.”
As the virus spread south of the border, the CFIA introduced an emergency protocol in February 2014, making sure all transports coming back from the United States were cleaned at Canadian facilities.
As PEDv cases declined in the US, the protocol ended in October 2015 and was followed by a compliance period. Now, the emergency protocol has been completely nullified and empty trucks returning from the US are once again forced to be washed in America.
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An email from a CFIA spokesperson reads: “There has been no evidence that PED or other viruses will survive on equipment/transport trailers that have been cleaned using the following steps: remove all organic material; use a hot water (minimum 60 C) and detergent wash; and apply an effective disinfectant to the clean equipment.”
“Properly cleaning and disinfecting trucks in the USA is a better approach than letting dirty trucks with potentially infected materials like manure enter the country,” the email states.
Canadian producers are worried US washing facilities are inadequate in eliminating viral threats.
Sask Pork, a member of the Canadian Pork Council, wants to continue using the temporary protocols established at the height of the PEDv outbreak.
“That’s the protocol that was in place; it proved to be very successful for us. Quite frankly, we’re at a loss to understand why we can’t continue to do that,” Ketilson said.
While technically, producers could bypass a secondary Canadian wash, Sask Pork says producers are continuing to adhere to their own biosecurity standards, opting for a second wash at certified Canadian wash facilities.
Producers pay for this second wash out of their own pocket, the sterilization costing up to $800.
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