Pseudorabies, Swine - USA: (Michigan)

[mixin]

Date: 7 May 2008
Source: The Chicago Tribune [edited]
<http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-ap-mi-hogvirus,0,217268.story>


A highly contagious swine virus has been detected
on a privately owned game ranch in Saginaw County, state officials said.

The Michigan Department of Agriculture's Geagley
Laboratory confirmed the outbreak of pseudorabies
at the ranch, which has 19 sport swine.

Pseudorabies (PRV) is a highly contagious viral
disease that kills newborn piglets. In rare
cases, it can cause sudden death in cats and
dogs. It also can sicken cattle, sheep and deer
but does not hurt people. Despite its name, the virus is not related to rabies.

"We must protect Michigan's USD 230 million swine
industry," said Don Koivisto, state agriculture
director. "Michigan achieved PRV-free status in
2000, and the ability of this disease to be
spread by feral hogs to other animals could be a risk to the swine industry."

That status should remain intact as long as
Michigan's commercial swine operations remain
free of the virus, officials said.

PRV is transmitted through nasal and oral
secretions, food, water and the environment and
can be carried on car tires, boots, and clothing.

All swine on the Saginaw County ranch will be captured and destroyed.

Officials with the U.S. Department of
Agriculture's Wildlife Services branch are
trapping and euthanizing feral swine in the area.

State officials are encouraging Michigan
residents to shoot feral swine and submit the carcasses for disease checks.

"We are contacting other states to notify them of
the disease and anticipate some out-of-state
markets will impose restrictions on live swine
from Michigan until testing proves that this is
an isolated case," said Steve Halstead, state
veterinarian. "We need to confirm as quickly as
possible that the disease has not spread to other farms."

The state agriculture department is banning
importation of swine for breeding on game ranches
or for supplying game ranches or facilities using
swine for sport, hunting, or shooting, a
spokeswoman said Wednesday [7 May 2008].

Farms that sold live swine to the Saginaw County
ranch or received live swine from the ranch will be quarantined and tested.

Additionally, all farms and ranches with
commercial or sport swine in a 5-mile radius
around the ranch where pseudorabies was found
will be quarantined and the swine tested.

Meat from PRV-positive swine is safe for humans
to eat. State agriculture officials recommend
cooking meat to 165 F as a precaution against foodborne illness.

Michigan banned importation of hogs from
Wisconsin in 2007 because of an outbreak of the pseudorabies virus there.

More info about the disease from ProMed:

http://www.promedmail.org/pls/otn/f?p=2400:1001:3704865036643706::NO::F2400_P1001_BACK_PAGE,F2400_P1001_PUB_MAIL_ID:1000,72472

[Shiloh]

Re: Pseudorabies, Swine - USA: (Michigan)

Source: http://blog.mlive.com/kzgazette/2008...gs_at_fai.html

Swine virus limits pigs at fairs and exhibitions in Michigan
Posted by Rosemary Parker | Kalamazoo Gazette June 13, 2008 11:10AM

KALAMAZOO -- There will be no sow giving birth at the Miracle of Life exhibit at this year's Kalamazoo County Fair.

To include her would have meant killing her and her piglets, too, under stringent new rules for fairs enacted last week.

The Michigan Department of Agriculture has ordered testing for every single pig at 2008 fairs and exhibitions unless the event is designated a "terminal" show, where every pig that steps off the truck will be slaughtered at the end of the event.

The order is designed to control an outbreak of disease discovered last month in pigs on game ranches in the Thumb area.

It's a drastic step, one of many designed to dry up any potential transmission points for pseudorabies, a disease the swine industry thought it had eradicated nationwide years ago.

Agriculture officials fear that if the virus isn't quickly contained, federal regulatory action could cripple Michigan's $230 million commercial swine industry.

Last week state agriculture officials quarantined the wild game ranches where the disease showed up in pigs targeted for hunting. Vaccination is not an option because there is no supply of vaccine. Animals on the affected ranches are being euthanized and widespread testing is under way of all pigs within a danger zone around the farms.

If no other pigs are found to have the disease, restrictions on fairs may be eased, said Patrick Butler, Kalamazoo County Fair board president.

"It's kind of drastic," he said, "but you would only need one instance of pseudorabies coming into (a commercial farm) and there you go" -- a quarantine on the commercial farms might be next.

As of Thursday, no further incidence of the disease had been found, said Sam Hines, executive vice president of Michigan Pork Producers in Holt. Commercial animals bound for the supermarket are raised in strict confinement under near-sterile conditions, so transmission of the disease from game-farm or show pigs is unlikely.

But if the disease were to show up in a commercial herd, Michigan's pigs would likely be isolated from pigs in other states. Hines said if a quarantine were to extend from games ranches to the commercial herd, farmers would be stuck with 1 million healthy pigs, but no way to butcher them.

Michigan's commercial swine inventory is mostly young animals, from newborn piglets to those weighing 40 pounds. They are destined for finishing operations in Ohio and Indiana that are close to out-of-state slaughter facilities.

It's at those farms that they will be fed until they reach market size.

"We don't have enough finishing capacity here" in Michigan to raise the inventory of baby pigs to maturity, Hines said. Nor are there any commercial-slaughter facilities in the state capable of handling that many animals, he said.

Butler said fair officials believed expensive testing would be a hardship for the 4-H kids who traditionally show their animals, so designating this year's fair "terminal" made sense.

Other fairs will likely follow that course, though it means either canceling the nonmarket swine events or arranging for slaughter of those animals, too. Centreville's Fair has canceled its popular racing pigs, Butler said.

This year the "world's largest hog" sideshow, greased pig races and petting barns featuring pot-bellied pigs will be absent from many fairs and exhibitions across the state.

Contact Rosemary Parker at 388-2734 or rparker@kalamazoogazette.com.