Disease concerns highlight risk for pork sector

Wild pigs have become a reservoir for 
disease in other jurisdictions

Reading Time: < 1 minute

Published: May 30, 2019

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three pigs

Manitoba’s growing wild pig problem could spell trouble for one of its biggest economic engines — the pork sector.

In parts of Europe they’ve become an impossible-to-control vector for African swine fever.

There’s also the risk that the Canadian herd and the much-larger U.S. herd that’s moving north could soon meet and mingle, further increasing their status as a reservoir for disease.

Jenelle Hamblin, manager of swine health programs with the Manitoba Pork Council, said they have partnered with a third party on a pilot control program. The program, launched this spring, uses remote activated pen traps to capture large groups of pigs.

“It’s definitely a labour-intensive process,” she said. “It takes full-time tracking, really, and surveillance of the traps that are set.”

Other problems for farmers include rooting damage that can leave fields looking like they’ve been rototilled, the risk of large and sometimes aggressive animals on the loose, and extensive environmental damage and elevated erosion risk.

About the author

Alexis Stockford

Alexis Stockford

Editor

Alexis Stockford is the editor of the Glacier FarmMedia news hub, managing the Manitoba Co-operator. Alexis grew up on a mixed farm near Miami, Man., and graduated with her journalism degree from Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops, B.C. She joined the Co-operator as a reporter in 2017, covering current agricultural news, policy, agronomy, farm production and with particular focus on the livestock industry and regenerative agriculture. She previously worked as a reporter for the Morden Times in southern Manitoba.

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