The Manitoba Pork Council’s efforts against African swine fever now have almost $1 million in extra financial padding. On Aug. 3, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada announced $944,340 in funding for Manitoba’s hog farm group. Funds were provided through AAFC’s African Swine Fever Industry Preparedness Program and were slotted for three initiatives: Squeal on Pigs, increased […] Read more
Anti-ASF funds designated for Manitoba Pork
Three initiatives will be funded through the federal African swine fever preparedness program
Vietnam approves commercial use of first African swine fever vaccines
U.S. Agriculture Secretary says farmers may purchase as precaution despite no domestic cases
Hanoi | Reuters – Vietnam has approved the domestic commercial use of two home-grown vaccines against African swine fever, the government said on Monday, making them the world’s first commercial vaccines against the deadly disease. The vaccines include NAVET-ASFVAC, co-developed by Navetco Central Veterinary Medicine and scientists from the United States, and AVAC ASF LIVE […] Read more
Indonesia confirms African swine fever outbreak
Disease killed over 35,000 hogs on farm
Paris | Reuters — Indonesia has reported an outbreak of African swine fever on a farm on the Riau Islands near Singapore, the World Organization for Animal Health (WOAH) said on Tuesday. The outbreak that killed 35,297 pigs in a herd of 285,034 on a farm located on Bulan island was detected on April 1 […] Read more
MPs get assurance on Canada’s biosecurity preparedness
Canada well prepared for foreign animal diseases, officials say
Officials from several federal agencies have reassured the public about Canada’s animal biosecurity preparedness. Witnesses from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA), Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) and the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) spoke to MPs’ concerns about livestock diseases at a committee meeting last Wednesday afternoon. Biosecurity preparedness has been a relevant issue […] Read more
U.S. livestock: Hogs limit down on disease chatter
Chicago cattle futures close higher
Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange lean hog futures sank by the maximum daily trading limit on Thursday on rumours about a potential outbreak of a fatal pig disease which the U.S. government later said were untrue. Unsubstantiated chatter about a U.S. case of African swine fever swirled in the market, but the U.S. […] Read more
Federal funding lined up for programs, planning against swine fever
Two-year package to go toward pork industry work
The federal government is putting up an eight-figure funding wall to help prevent African swine fever from ever reaching Canada’s hog farms — and to prepare against any breach. Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau said Aug. 26 the government will provide up to $45.3 million toward a three-pronged effort to boost disease prevention and preparedness: pork […] Read more
Swine fever outbreak in Germany’s top pork state poses lasting threat
Risk seen for spread to neighbours Netherlands, France
Hamburg | Reuters — The spread of African swine fever to Germany’s most important pig rearing region has dealt a serious blow to the sector with major markets such as China likely to maintain import bans for years to come, analysts said on Monday. The outbreak on a farm in Emsland, Lower Saxony is the […] Read more
Saskatchewan to license, limit wild boar farming
Moratorium placed on any new farms
Saskatchewan is tightening its rules on wild boar farming, including a moratorium on any new farms, in a renewed bid to keep the province’s feral pig population in check. The provincial ag ministry announced the moratorium Wednesday and said it’s “developing regulations for licensing existing commercial wild boar farms.” Regulations for wild boar and feral […] Read more
Wild pigs could be superspreaders of disease, expert warns
Wild pigs are attracted to hog farms and can indirectly spread diseases such as porcine epidemic diarrhea
Reading Time: 4 minutes Experts worry wild pigs on the Prairies and domestic hogs are on a collision course — and the fallout could be enormous if PED ever infects the wild population. “We know globally from a lot of research and monitoring that wild pigs can be very serious reservoirs of disease and hold the disease,” said Ryan […] Read more
Ontario moves to phase out wild boar farming
Province, feds fund swine fever defense plans
Hoping to improve its odds against African swine fever ever getting a toehold in Canada’s hog herds, Ontario plans to regulate Eurasian wild boar as an invasive species starting in the new year. To that end, the province is making funding available to farmers who actively breed and raise wild boar to “shift to other […] Read more