Reading Time: < 1 minute It’s been one blow after another for the province’s hog producers, says Alberta Pork. “The past year has presented quite a few disruptions at every stage of the value chain,” Bijon Brown, the organization’s production economist, said in a release. The sharp rise in feed costs have been the biggest blow, but transportation disruptions, labour […] Read more
Hog producer ‘profitability plunges,’ says Alberta Pork
Maryland man recovering after ‘breakthrough’ pig-heart transplant
Hog's genes edited to reduce rejection risk
Chicago | Reuters — A U.S. man with terminal heart disease was implanted with a genetically modified pig heart in a first-of-its-kind surgery, and three days later the patient is doing well, his doctors reported on Monday. The surgery, performed by a team at the University of Maryland Medicine, is among the first to demonstrate […] Read more
U.S. surgeons successfully test pig kidney transplant in human patient
New York | Reuters — For the first time, a pig kidney has been transplanted into a human without triggering immediate rejection by the recipient’s immune system, a potentially major advance that could eventually help alleviate a dire shortage of human organs for transplant. The procedure done at NYU Langone Health in New York City […] Read more
U.S. seeks to protect pork exports if swine fever hits territories
Policy would distinguish Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands from mainland
Chicago | Reuters — The United States said on Thursday it is seeking to avoid disruptions to pork exports if the territories of Puerto Rico or the U.S. Virgin Islands detect the fatal pig disease African swine fever. The risk for infections in the territories is higher after the Dominican Republic last month confirmed the […] Read more
Alarms raised after African swine fever crosses the Atlantic
Positive cases in the Dominican Republic have officials in Canada on high alert
Reading Time: 2 minutes The arrival of African swine fever in the Caribbean has alarm bells ringing here. “An outbreak of ASF in Canada could devastate the Canadian pig herd, placing farm families and tens of thousands of jobs along the entire value chain at risk,” the Canadian Pork Council said in a release. “A single, positive case could […] Read more
Dominican Republic to kill thousands of pigs over swine fever outbreak
Santo Domingo | Reuters – The Dominican Republic will slaughter tens of thousands of pigs after detecting outbreaks of African swine fever in 11 of the country’s 32 provinces, authorities said on Monday. Fernando Duran, administrator of the state-run Banco Agricola, told a news conference the government will pay pig farmers the market price of each animal […] Read more
Dominican Republic restricts pig shipments after ASF confirmed
Reuters – The Dominican Republic is restricting pig shipments and mobilizing the military to contain the spread of African swine fever (ASF), the agriculture ministry said July 29, as the United States and Mexico tightened border checks to avoid infections. In an official statement July 29, Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) also said it was […] Read more
African swine fever confirmed in Dominican Republic pigs: USDA
Chicago | Reuters – The U.S. Department of Agriculture confirmed the deadly hog virus African swine fever in samples from pigs in the Dominican Republic, the agency said on Wednesday, fuelling concerns about the disease creeping closer to the United States. The positive tests represent the first detection of the disease in the Americas in about 40 […] Read more
German hog market shrugs off swine fever discovery on farms
Hamburg | Reuters — German pig prices were unchanged this week despite the discovery of the disease African swine fever in farm animals, German animal farmers’ association VEZG said on Wednesday. German pig prices were the same as last week at 1.42 euros (C$2.10) per kilogram slaughter weight, the VEZG said. A third case of […] Read more
Another swine flu variant case appears in Manitoba
Variant of H3N2 confirmed in southern Manitoba resident
A single and apparently isolated case of another influenza variant normally seen in hogs has turned up in a Manitoba resident, the province announced Monday. Manitoba Public Health on Monday said the H3N2 influenza variant (H3N2v) seen in this case is related to flu viruses that circulate in pigs, noting that while such viruses don’t […] Read more
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