AlaskaDenise
In Memoriam
http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/subscriber/local/story/3781292p-4373206c.html
Sat Nov 18 2006
By Ian Hitchen
<!-- Component: WinnipegFreePress : component/new/story_elements/headline_group.comp --><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 align=left border=0><TBODY><TR><TD></TD></TR><TR><TD></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><!--br clear="right" /-->BRANDON -- Manitoba isn't ready for a pair of highly infectious viruses that could infect pigs and cripple the province's $3-million-a-day hog industry, said a top animal health official at Manitoba Agriculture.
Veterinarian Dr. Terry Whiting said Friday at a disaster management conference at the Keystone Centre that the province doesn't have the slaughter capacity to cope with pigs that would have nowhere to go if the United States shuts its border.
"We're not quite (ready) yet, we're working on it."
Outbreaks of foreign animal disease are rare here, Whiting said, occurring about once every 50 years. There was an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in Saskatchewan in 1952, the BSE crisis in 2003, and avian flu in B.C.'s Fraser Valley in 2004.
The economic costs of outbreaks can be huge, with the BSE crisis bringing an estimated $7 billion loss. Whiting said Manitoba's pork industry will be hit with a similar crisis if there's a foot-and-mouth disease or swine fever outbreak.
Manitoba is Canada's largest pig-producing and pig-exporting province, exporting six million live pigs last year. That included two to three million young pigs, many bound for the U. S. However, Europe, the United States and Mexico won't purchase live animals or meat products if Manitoba has a foot-and-mouth disease or swine fever outbreak. If the American border is shut, it will block about 15,000 small pigs per day shipped from Manitoba to heated barns in the U. S. where they're raised. The province doesn't have the capacity to slaughter the animals that would build up on farms, Whiting said.
There's a lack of private insurance and no national livestock program to support farmers during a crisis and there needs to be a national disaster relief program to address foreign animal disease, he added.
- Brandon Sun <!-- 2nd photo, if present--><!-- Resume Body --><!-- 3rd photo, if present--><!-- Resume Body --><!-- 4th photo, if present--><!-- Resume Body --><!-- 5th photo, if present--><!-- Resume Body --><!-- 6th photo, if present--><!-- Resume Body --><!-- 7th photo, if present--><!-- Resume Body --><!-- 8th photo, if present--><!-- Resume Body --><!-- 9th photo, if present--><!-- Resume Body --><!-- 10th photo, if present--><!-- Resume Body --><!-- 11th photo, if present--><!-- Resume Body --><!-- 12th photo, if present--><!-- Resume Body --><!-- 13th photo, if present--><!-- Resume Body --><!-- 14th photo, if present--><!-- Resume Body --><!-- 2nd Sidebar, if present -->
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Sat Nov 18 2006
By Ian Hitchen
<!-- Component: WinnipegFreePress : component/new/story_elements/headline_group.comp --><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 align=left border=0><TBODY><TR><TD></TD></TR><TR><TD></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><!--br clear="right" /-->BRANDON -- Manitoba isn't ready for a pair of highly infectious viruses that could infect pigs and cripple the province's $3-million-a-day hog industry, said a top animal health official at Manitoba Agriculture.
Veterinarian Dr. Terry Whiting said Friday at a disaster management conference at the Keystone Centre that the province doesn't have the slaughter capacity to cope with pigs that would have nowhere to go if the United States shuts its border.
"We're not quite (ready) yet, we're working on it."
Outbreaks of foreign animal disease are rare here, Whiting said, occurring about once every 50 years. There was an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in Saskatchewan in 1952, the BSE crisis in 2003, and avian flu in B.C.'s Fraser Valley in 2004.
The economic costs of outbreaks can be huge, with the BSE crisis bringing an estimated $7 billion loss. Whiting said Manitoba's pork industry will be hit with a similar crisis if there's a foot-and-mouth disease or swine fever outbreak.
Manitoba is Canada's largest pig-producing and pig-exporting province, exporting six million live pigs last year. That included two to three million young pigs, many bound for the U. S. However, Europe, the United States and Mexico won't purchase live animals or meat products if Manitoba has a foot-and-mouth disease or swine fever outbreak. If the American border is shut, it will block about 15,000 small pigs per day shipped from Manitoba to heated barns in the U. S. where they're raised. The province doesn't have the capacity to slaughter the animals that would build up on farms, Whiting said.
There's a lack of private insurance and no national livestock program to support farmers during a crisis and there needs to be a national disaster relief program to address foreign animal disease, he added.
- Brandon Sun <!-- 2nd photo, if present--><!-- Resume Body --><!-- 3rd photo, if present--><!-- Resume Body --><!-- 4th photo, if present--><!-- Resume Body --><!-- 5th photo, if present--><!-- Resume Body --><!-- 6th photo, if present--><!-- Resume Body --><!-- 7th photo, if present--><!-- Resume Body --><!-- 8th photo, if present--><!-- Resume Body --><!-- 9th photo, if present--><!-- Resume Body --><!-- 10th photo, if present--><!-- Resume Body --><!-- 11th photo, if present--><!-- Resume Body --><!-- 12th photo, if present--><!-- Resume Body --><!-- 13th photo, if present--><!-- Resume Body --><!-- 14th photo, if present--><!-- Resume Body --><!-- 2nd Sidebar, if present -->
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