U.S. Pork Producers Advised to Protect Pig Barns From Exposure to Wild Birds

U.S. Pork producers are being advised to implement biosecurity measures that will minimise the exposure of their pigs to wild birds.A Swine Health Information Center-American Association of Swine Veterinarians webinar, accessible at swinehealth.org, examines the implications of the identification of highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N1 in dairy cattle and goats in the U.S. and what that means for pigs.

SHIC Executive Director Dr. Megan Niederwerder says pork producers need to be thinking about biosecurity hazards associated with wild birds and wild scavengers.

Quote-Dr. Megan Niederwerder-Swine Health Information Center:

We have to think about things like water, food and shelter that may provide an attractant for wild birds, so to implement control measures pork producers should be thinking about cleaning up spilled feed daily and eliminating bird nesting and roosting sites, particularly in those areas that are close to air inlets as well as entry points.Controlling rodents and removing wild animal habitats is really important, trying to protect our pigs from some of those exposures.

Also using bird netting to prevent access into swine barns to make sure our barns are bird proof, repairing the curtains where they're needed and then also thinking about trying to reduce avian access to those swine barns.When we think about biosecurity hazards we also have to think about not only the barn but also contamination of feed sources and contamination of water sources.

With regards to surface water, is it a risk for provision to pigs as a drinking water source and should it be treated prior to exposure to those hogs?
You could think about water treatment with chlorine, acidifiers, iodine pr peroxide.Then when we think about feed sources, it's really important to do an audit of feed sources ensuring that any dairy byproducts such as weigh or milk replacers are pasteurized prior to feeding to your pigs.

The high path avian influenza H5N1 webinar can be accessed at swinehealth.org.