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By Alice McFarlane

Pig Health

Monitoring pigs during COVID-19 outbreak

Mar 10, 2020 | 10:38 AM

There’s no reason to believe the new human coronavirus, COVID-19 will affect pigs but the manager of the Canada West Swine Health Intelligence Network (CWSHIN) said it’s always prudent to protect pigs from exposure to any infections.

There are 77 confirmed Canadian cases of COVID-19, including cases in Ontario, British Columbia, Quebec and Alberta.

CWSWIN Manager Dr. Jette Christensen said they are tracking this new virus.

“There is no very clear evidence pigs might be suspectable to this specific strain but I also want to caution that there is so much research going on right now that this could change within a week or so,” she said. “The only really good guidance that we can give right now is that, so far, there’s no evidence but it would still be pertinent to make sure that your pigs are not exposed to people having travelled and go on to the farm.”

Christensen said the same protocol is followed with diseases known to affect pigs.

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“It’s really in the same lines as how to protect the pigs from African swine fever and any other diseases. Keep people that do not need to go into your barns out of your barns,” she said.

Christensen said with any new diseases there’s always new information coming out and there’s also a lot of misinformation and fake news circulating in social media.

“The only thing you can try to do is use only reputable sites to get the facts,” she said. “There are a few links on our website under What’s New. I’ve listed a couple of links that you can go to.”

She also suggested reviewing the World Health Organization website.

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alice.mcfarlane@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @AliceMcF