Oregon Pig with H5N1 Pt 2
From the Ag Information Network, I’m Bob Larson. A case of bird flu has been confirmed in a pig from an Oregon farm, and the Swine Health Information Center says more has to be done.
Executive Director Dr. Megan Niederwerder says that includes shared personnel, housing, or equipment, all now are an identified risk to pigs …
NIEDERWERDER … “And so we have to reconsider our biosecurity, increase the breadth through the operational connections with other livestock species, and think again about how we prevent the introduction into a commercial pig population."
Niederwerder says that means, reassessing biosecurity practices and protocols …
NIEDERWERDER … “To ensure that there is no shared personnel going between swine operations and poultry operations or swine operations and dairy operations."
That also means, Niederwerder says, thinking about pets or poultry with farmers asking themselves questions about shared operational connections.
On a positive note, she says, these pigs were no part of the food supply …
NIEDERWERDER … “Nor were they ever intended to be. The pork consumption continues to be safe and we will do everything we can of course to prevent introduction into the commercial swine operation."
The National Pork Producers Council also released a note confirming the safety of the food supply … emphasizing the USDA's swine influenza surveillance program that detects viruses and protects the food system.
