PED outbreak forces biosecurity crackdown by producers and truckers
Tuesday, June 3, 2014
The discovery of porcine epidemic diarrhea virus, first in the United States and later in Ontario, has fostered broader awareness of the risks the entire production chain can present to farm livestock and has motivated more within the industry to enhance their biosecurity
by MARY BAXTER
Last Christmas, Santa presented Mike and Amy Cronin with the farming equivalent of a lump of coal – an outbreak of porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PED) in one of their sow units in the United States. Infection at another unit there soon followed.
The U.S. operation's biosecurity was – and is – exemplary. The Cronins work exclusively with one trucking company that meets exacting cleaning and disinfection protocols established by the couple's veterinarians. These precautions have been in place in the United States since 2010. Indeed, the Cronins' U.S. operation managed to remain PED-free for two months after the disease erupted nearby.
PED is a virulent virus that will kill most young pigs, although older animals can recover. It is transferred by direct contact with other pigs or contaminated surfaces and first emerged in North America a year ago. It is also found in the Far East and Europe.
In the Cronins' case, the turnaround was swift. They lost four weeks of production in one unit and three in the other.
Mike Cronin credits the advice of their consulting veterinarian, Martin Misener of South West Ontario Veterinary Services. "Our initial sow herd that got it probably has the best production it has had and we're only less than three months post-PED," he says.
Even before the outbreaks in their U.S. operations, the Cronins were taking precautions at their Ontario farrowing unit, located between Listowel and Wingham, and at the offsite nurseries where they raise the 21-day-old weanlings the unit's animals produce. Most of the weanlings are sold once they reach 55 to 65 pounds, but the Cronins retain some for finishing.
Efforts have focused on ways to minimize the physical interactions with off-farm contacts. For instance, they truck their own weanlings from sow barn to nursery and Mike's brothers-in-law, his two major buyers, bought a trailer to use only with his pigs, which is always washed after use.
To minimize transport contact even further, the Cronins bought a secondary truck and developed a portable chute on a wagon bottom to use when transferring cull sows to an off-farm transport truck, "so we never back truck to truck." They transfer the animals in a lane opposite the barn. "That way, we never have an offsite truck back up to our farm," says Cronin. "We have control of anything touching our farm."
Last fall, they also decided to build a wash bay, which is scheduled for completion this spring. Adding an isolation barn on their sow unit for in-house multiplication is next on the list.
A biovator, which composts on-farm mortalities and creates a sterilized, disease-free product that can safely be spread on fields, further eliminates the need for off-farm contact.
The Cronins' strategy reflects a new perspective on biosecurity, one which may well be PED's ultimate legacy. While the need to practice on-farm biosecurity has long been acknowledged as an effective way to counter disease, the spread of PED through outside industry activity demonstrates that caution can't stop at the gate. Interventions are needed throughout the production chain to reduce risks.
For Brad Zantingh, the concept was driven home shortly after learning about the emergence of PED in the United States. Zantingh, his brother Peter and sister Sue Douglas own and operate Zantingh Direct Inc. near Wyoming in Lambton County. The business specializes in acquiring cull sows and boars, off-weight market hogs, barbecue pigs as well as some feeder pigs and market hogs. The majority of the animals, in turn, are sold to sausage processors, mostly in the United States.
The company did not have its own wash facility, and lack of appropriate wash facilities in Ontario made it a challenge to organize washing elsewhere for trucks returning from the United States. Washing in the United States was not an option. "U.S. truck washes use recycled water — which was explained to me as increasing the risk of PED," Zantingh says.
Unproven treatment
In July 2013, after trouble-shooting and determining the risk potential for their business with Misener and the South West Ontario Veterinary Services team, the Zantinghs began using Stalosan F., a powerful disinfectant powder that veterinarians and industry researchers thought might destroy the virus.
The efficacy of the treatment, however, had not yet been proven, so the company became a participant in an Iowa State University study to evaluate its effectiveness.
Meanwhile, the family adopted other precautions: participation in an industry-led voluntary PED sampling program; the addition of a portable transfer station (complete with separate Danish entries for drivers and staff) to prevent contamination between livestock trailers and their assembly barn's loading chutes; and strict footwear protocols for drivers travelling between Canada and the United States.
But late in December came bad news with the release of the Iowa State study. "These results suggest that the use of Stalosan F disinfectant powder is not an efficacious means of inactivating PEDv in unwashed trailers," the study's authors concluded.
The company immediately stopped using the disinfectant and, with the assistance of Misener and some funding from Ontario Pork, gained access to a truck wash an hour away at Lucan in Middlesex County.
Despite the substantial effort to take precautions, Zantingh's yard tested positive for PED on Jan. 24, just two days after the first on-farm case of PED in Ontario was confirmed.
On the advice of their veterinarians, they moved the mobile transfer chute to a nearby site, where animals could be transferred from an incoming truck to one of the company's for transport back to the assembly barn. But the siblings were already eying a more permanent solution: buying the former Talbotville Livestock Exchange near St. Thomas to create a large, appointment-only, biosecure transfer station.
"We were looking for a facility that was under-utilized" and that could be quickly adapted for use, Zantingh explains. They bought the facility for an undisclosed six-figure sum on Jan. 28 and took possession the same day.
Drawing on veterinary advice, they installed concrete barricades at the former auction facility to define separate traffic flows for trucks dropping off and picking up animals. Separate entrances to the facility were also established for the two activities, as well as a third for staff. All are clearly marked with signs.
A written description outlining the facility's concept, supplied by Brad Zantingh, notes that viral symptoms of PED begin within 22 to 36 hours of exposure. The goal, therefore, is to receive and then reload the pigs for shipping to either their end destination or the company's Wyoming location all within four to 12 hours.
"By doing this, we significantly reduce the risk of a pig contracting and shedding the virus at the transfer station because we have not exceeded the incubation period, therefore stopping the spread of PED to subsequent pigs that enter the site," the description says.
Even if a way is found to manage or even eliminate PED from herds, the new facility is a permanent fixture, says Zantingh, noting it means they will be able to deliver biosecure service in the event of another disease outbreak.
Standing requirements
Gary Martin, one of the owners of Thur Transport Ltd. in Elmira, says their biosecurity enhancements adopted in response to the risks of PED are permanent, too. They already had a wash bay to clean and disinfect their trucks, but they have added a portable transfer chute to use for loading in their assembly yard, as well as a standing requirement that drivers wear different footgear depending on whether they're driving, in the yard or in the back of the truck. Drivers are never allowed into the barn when unloading at Martin's assembly barn.
Angie Hurst, vice-president of Luckhart Transport Ltd. in Sebringville, says that six years ago her company added a specialized thermo-assisted decontamination drying bay to their washing facilities, which operate throughout the week. Transporting pigs makes up 75 per cent of the company's business and they wanted to ensure they had the precautions in place in the event of a viral outbreak.
Last year, they upgraded their specialized bay to allow higher heats so they can dry trailers faster. The innovation has the added bonus of improving the performance of the disinfectant, she says.
Luckhart, too, has boot protocols for drivers – and it has gone one step further by also supplying drivers with clean coveralls and gloves that are to be worn only on a farm, as well as a mat they must stand on until they enter trailers. And, although the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Food (OMAF) is no longer testing their vehicles or facility for PED, the company continues to do so "just to make sure," she says.
Both Hurst and Martin recoup the costs of enhanced biosecurity from producers. Despite the expense, "most farms are requesting washes," Hurst says.
Ontario Pork's effort to establish minimum standards for transport cleaning is yet another acknowledgement of the importance of maintaining biosecurity protocols throughout the chain of production.
Dean Gurney, manager of industry and member services, says Ontario Pork is currently investigating what a standard truck wash would look like – such as water volume and pressure, preferred disinfectants and the amount of drying time. It is also exploring what other protocols could be easily implemented further along the chain, such as employing transfer chutes or strategies to manage foot traffic in assembly yards and at packers.
"We want something out there that's a minimum standard that we can say, you know what, if you do this, you're going to be pretty good – (something) that everyone can handle," he says. If people choose to do more than that, "that's their choice."
All of those interviewed agree enhanced biosecurity measures throughout the industry would likely be helpful in preventing the spread of many diseases. "They're good practices and, once things are set up and people are used to doing them, I think that they can be here to stay," notes Mike DeGroot, Ontario Pork's national biosecurity co-ordinator and a private practice veterinarian.
OMAF veterinarian Tim Blackwell, however, cautions that many of the biosecurity measures being implemented have not yet been proven to prevent the spread of PED.
"We're just so early into this," he says, adding that trial and error is likely the way the effectiveness of these measures is going to have to be determined.
PED has certainly fostered broader awareness of the risks the entire production chain can present to farm livestock and has motivated more within the industry to enhance their biosecurity, says DeGroot. Nevertheless, producers need to remain vigilant about their own practices.
"We know that there's a lot of contamination in the industry if there are a lot of contaminated sites," he explains. "So biosecurity at the farm level continues to be important to protect farms from breaking."
Cronin, for one, couldn't agree more. "We all have to do our part," he says. "It comes down to you as an individual on your farm and how you operate – who you use as a trucker and knowing their protocols – and taking those risks out." BP
Documenting the risk posed by PED
A study being lead this summer by two professors, Zvonimir Poljak and Terri O'Sullivan, in the Ontario Veterinary College animal population medicine department at the University of Guelph may help to identify PED-specific preventive practices.
The study is documenting and evaluating the risks that were posed in the initial phase of the PED outbreak in Ontario. Transport, activities related to feed acquisition, people movement on farms and the management of deadstock are among the factors they'll be studying, says O'Sullivan.
The project is funded by the provincial ministries of Agriculture and Food and Rural Affairs, and collaborators include the ministries, the Animal Health Laboratory at Guelph, Grand Valley Fortifiers, Ontario Pork, producers and veterinarians.
A target date for the release of its results has not yet been set, but O'Sullivan says the intent is to share information at producer-focused meetings as well as scientific gatherings and some government-focused venues as well. BP
Where trucks ‘enter dirty and leave clean'
by MATT McINTOSH
A new truck wash being built in Lambton County will do double duty by providing Ontario's pig farmers with access to clean, disease-free transportation equipment and by serving as a biosecurity research facility for livestock transport.
Warner Transport Limited will operate its new truck wash in conjunction with South West Ontario Veterinary Services to measure the effectiveness of its design in reducing cross-contamination on newly cleaned transport trucks and trailers.
Made from a converted lumber storage building, the Lambton facility will feature two separate lanes, each with a wash and disinfectant station, as well as a drying station. The idea, says Nancy Venhuizen, who owns the business with partner Bill Warner, is that trucks will "enter dirty and leave clean," avoiding cross-contamination by never driving over the same spot they did when entering the wash facility.
"For our older facility in Petrolia, you have to back right up to the wash bay and then leave through the same track," she explains.
Venhuizen says recent disease outbreaks prompted the idea for a new truck wash. So did the company's need for expansion. Its Petrolia facility is "bursting at the seams" with trucks waiting to be cleaned, she explains.
The new Warner facility will also resemble Luckhart Transport Limited's wash bay in Sebringville, which Angie Hurst, Luckhart's vice-president, says has drive-through cleaning and drying stations, as well as an off-site truck-storage location.
"Our wash bay has a number of things to help minimize the chance of contamination, including dry bay filters that can remove some dangerous pathogens and heated forced air," says Hurst.
What drying process the Warner facility will use has not been determined yet. Venhuizen says her company has been discussing options with Luckhart Transport, and hopes to have things up and running by mid-summer.
She says the estimated cost to retrofit the old lumber storage facility is about $300,000. The province's rural economic development program is paying for $135,000 of the total cost.
Warner Transport also received additional funding from Growing Forward 2's porcine epidemic diarrhea (PED) mitigation program, but Venhuizen says the money was put towards upgrades at the company's Petrolia wash facility. BP
Mandatory washing for delinquent truckers?
In March, Ontario's chief veterinarian, Greg Douglas, warned truckers that he would make washing mandatory if they did not adequately clean their vehicles.
Angie Hurst, vice-president of Luckhart Transport Ltd. in Sebringville, thinks that's a good idea. "There's no in-between," she says. "There's no short cut. It's 100 per cent. The way I look at it is that every trailer I send out is somebody's livelihood. I would never risk anybody's health status for a short cut," she says. "Blowing out a trailer and still having manure on the side of a wall – just because it says it's washed doesn't mean it's clean."
Mike DeGroot, Ontario Pork's national biosecurity co-ordinator and a private practice veterinarian, is more doubtful. "There gets to be costs involved in those processes," he explains, "so I don't think anyone really wants to go down that road unless needed."
Moreover, the industry has been really co-operative to date, he adds. BP