Biosecurity Key to Guarding Against Spread of Swine Disease

A Partner with Polar Pork Farms says the increased focus of Canada's pork producers on biosecurity over the past 10 to 15 years has dramatically improved the sector's ability to guard against disease. Over the past approximately 15 years Canada's pork sector, in partnership with government, the veterinary community and research institutions, has placed a much greater emphasis on biosecurity.

Florian Possberg, a Partner with Polar Pork Farms and a former Chair of the now disbanded Canadian Swine Health Board, says biosecurity is a big deal for his operation.

Clip-Florian Possberg-Polar Pork Farms:

We have trucks going to B.C. and Ontario, Iowa every week or every other week. Those areas have pathogens that we don't want here so, in our case, trucks and trailers are washed before they come to our units but not only washed, the whole units go into bake units and bring the temperature of the whole unit up to at least 165 degrees Fahrenheit which kills almost all of the pathogens.

Then there's swabbing and culturing and monitoring and stuff. That's one area that we not only spend a lot of effort on but we make sure it's done consistently. Besides that, the staff coming into our units, they have to shower in and out. We have staff from the Philippines for example.

They have to quarantine when they go home to visit. Every few years they like to visit their relatives back in the Philippines. We know that the Philippines has things like Foot and Mouth Disease, they've got African swine disease, that sort of thing so they have to follow a strict protocol to re-enter Canada. Those are just a some of the examples of things that we do.