Ontario Animal Health Network (OAHN) Swine Network Quarterly Producer/Industry Report

Sapelovirus The first detection in Ontario: What swine producers need to look for…

Dr. Jospeha DeLay updated the OAHN Swine Network on the first detection of Sapelovirus in an Ontario swine herd:

• Two practitioners reported Porcine Sapelovirus as an emerging disease in Q4. The detection of Porcine Sapelovirus was confirmed by Dr. DeLay and to her knowledge these are the first cases of this particular virus to be reported in Ontario.
• Clinical signs involving the Central Nervous System, post mortem lesions of severe infection of the brain and spinal cord and identification of Porcine Sapelovirus (and Teschovirus) confirmed the diagnosis.
• The disease was predominantly affecting the nursery with mortality of approximately 10 %.
• There were some clinical signs in the finisher. Veterinarians reported that clinically upright pigs appeared to be pushing themselves around on their elbows. This unusual clinical presentation is not uncommon with Porcine Sapelovirus.
• Porcine Sapelovirus has been an emerging disease of interest for the Swine Health Information Center (SHIC) in the USA. SHIC has reported more than 60 confirmed cases since 2016 (Morrison Swine Health Monitoring Report)

Take Home Message

It is important for producers and industry members to report any neurological clinical signs seen in pigs to your veterinarian for further diagnostics

The classic clinical sign of Sapelovirus is pigs walking on their elbows

Influenza A-The Season Continues…

It is that time of the year again where temperatures have a wide range and when both humans and pigs experience sickness especially with respiratory disease. Influenza A is a virus that causes pigs to have a fever, act lethargic, not want to eat well, cough and experience a nasal discharge. Sixtyfour percent of responding veterinarians to the Q4 survey reported an increase in Influenza A. There were no responding veterinarians that rated this disease as never or rarely occurring.

Influenza A has many different sub-types that are found in pigs. It was noted that both laboratories reported that the majority of isolates were H1N1 followed by H3N2 and then H1N2 subtype in Q4 of 2019.

Please remember the importance of receiving your “flu shot” on a yearly basis as Influenza A can be transferred from people to pigs and vice versa. If humans caring for pigs are experiencing clinical signs of Influenza A it is recommended that they not expose themselves to pigs and stay home if possible.

Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea (PED) & Porcine Deltacoronavirus (PDCoV) Update

There was one new site with PED and no new PDCoV sites in Ontario in Q4. However their has been 7 new PED sites detected in Q1 2020

It is important to note that as of the end of February, 7 new sites have reported PED in Ontario. This number compared to the same time period in Q1 2019 is the same where 7 new PED sites were detected. It is important the producers remain vigilant with both on-farm and beyond the farm biosecurity practices especially during this time of the year.

To date all have been in grower-finisher operations. It is important to note that PED can present with very mild clinical signs in finishing pigs and detection can be easily missed. Most of these new sites have a common connection to an assembly point as well as used a common truck wash station.

As of March 31, 2020 OMAFRA will no longer be involved in traceback investigations for new Ontario sites with PED or PDCoV. PED will remain listed as an immediately notifiable pathogen, meaning that veterinarians are still obligated to report new sites to OMAFRA. Since the first case of PED was detected in 2014 we have come a long way in overall knowledge of this pathogen. We now understand the virus characteristics, potential vectors of spread, how to prevent it and how to eliminate the virus from herds if desired by producers. OMAFRA has full confidence that the swine industry including swine veterinarians can lead PED and PDCoV response moving forward. Swine Health Ontario (SHO) and Ontario Pork (OP) are working with OMAFRA to develop a transition strategy. Once completed details will be communicated to veterinarians and swine producers.

African Swine Fever (ASF)

African Swine Fever (ASF)

Dr. Christa Arsenault reviewed the following information on ASF:

• The latest data from the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) stated 23 countries are experiencing new or ongoing outbreaks of ASF throughout Western Europe, Asia and Russia
• A new country reporting ASF since the last OAHN Swine Network call is Greece that has reported one case in a small scale swine operation
• “Non-affected countries face an increased challenge to prevent the disease entering their borders”
• Indonesia (south of the Philippines) also reported that the virus jumped long distances (over 2000km) from North Sumatra province to the island of Bali.
• South Korea has now reported 175 cases of ASF along the border with North Korea (mostly in wild swine). Virtually every day a new case is being reported. Animal health control zones had to be expanded recently
• Germany remains on high alert, but to date no detections of ASF have occurred in Germany despite close proximity to their border of wild swine testing ASF positive in Poland
• Polish authorities have reported 20 new findings of infected wild boar from Western Poland. The total of findings now in western Poland is at 151. Germany and Poland agriculture ministers met in Berlin and agreed upon new measures to jointly contain the virus and prevent it spreading to Germany
• Germany is the second largest exporter of pork. They have engaged in talks with China to ensure that exports of pork will remain possible in the case of ASF being found in wild boar in Germany. In this agreement China will be asked to make a distinction between domestic pigs, wild boar and wild domestic pigs

Canada has ramped-up prevention measures to keep ASF out. Measures include:

• Twenty-four more sniffer dog teams to be added over the next 5 years (total will be 39 teams) to check airline passengers and luggage for smuggled pork
• Import controls pertinent to ASF have been re-evaluated, leading to new measures for importing plant-based feed ingredients
• Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA) reported that in 2019, almost 600 travelers entering Canada failed to declare pork products; 90 received a written warning and 506 a penalty of $1300 CDN
• 167 travelers failed to properly import pork products, and 132 of those received an $800 CDN penalty

Planning activities are continuing at the federal, provincial and industry levels in Ontario.

• OMAFRA and Swine Health Ontario (SHO) both have partially activated their incident command structures to coordinate and prioritize planning tasks. This structure is allowing for integration between OMAFRA and SHO preventing the duplication of tasks, physical and human resources
• OMAFRA has planning teams assigned to the following subject areas: Economics, trade, recovery, worker safety, animal health, production, euthanasia, disposal and communications

How can producers engage in OAHN?

• Read our quarterly producer reports and let us know what you think!
• Discuss the material included in these reports with you herd veterinarian and other swine producers. Help us spread the word!

What to do if you see feral pigs in Ontario…

• OMAFRA is working with the Ministry of Natural Resources & Forestry (MNRF) to put together a wild swine strategy for Ontario. The first step will be to try to identify wild swine within Ontario.
• The MNRF has set up a page on iNaturalist at: www.inaturalist. org/projects/ontariowild-pig-reporting for residents to document any possible wild pigs in Ontario. Sighting information can also be emailed to MNRFSpeciesConservationPolicyBranch@ontario.ca.