PLANET IN PERIL

ILRI The swelling around the kidneys & the muscle hemorrhages shown here are typical of pigs with African swine fever. Karen Apicelli - USDA. African swine fever is a highly contagious viral disease affecting domestic and wild pigs. It kills nearly 100% of the pigs it infects. The good news is that the African swine fever virus does not infect or harm humans. The bad news is that it devastates household and national economies. Particularly in Africa and now in China and Vietnam, it can destroy the livelihoods. More here.

There is a ‘clear risk’ the swiftly spreading disease could come here, says leading swine health vet By Alexis Kienlen FOLLOW Reporter Alberta farmer -  February 11, 2019 These red spots are typical of African swine fever.   A Wikimedia photo. There is a real risk that the African swine fever virus could enter Canada — and if it did, it would be catastrophic, says one of the country’s leading swine health experts.

Read an alternative version here.  Also.... "In Hogs We Trust."   A critique of Manitoba’s “runaway” hog industry. Part 1 - Antibiotic Overuse. Part 11 - The price we pay for corporate pig$.   Part 111 - From Malaysia to Manitoba - the global magnitude of livestock diseases. Part 1V - The health and environmental costs of an expanded hog industry. Part V - What’s behind Manitoba’s drive to expand?  

EcoWatch The North Carolina Department of Agriculture said Wednesday that the historic  flooding  from  Florence  has killed about 3.4 million chickens and turkeys and 5,500 hogs.  More here.

by Larry Powell Manitoba's  Premier, Brian Pallister has announced  another assistance package   to Hylife Foods of more than $11 m over the next several year.  (HyLife is now Canada's biggest pork processor.) Some $9.5m will come from the province, the rest from Ottawa. It will help the company pay for a pricey expansion of its killing plant in Neepawa and a new feed mill in the southwest. Last November, I warned in a blog-post here , that Manitoba taxpayers had better be prepared to "dig deeper." Why? Because Pallister's Conservatives had just begun to deregulate this province's corporate hog sector, so it could expand. And, expand, it has! Countless new barns are going up, so that millions more animals can be raised and slaughtered here: And all with fewer regulations than ever to control pollution, disease or catastrophic barn fires.  Given past history, my article reasoned, more "corporate welfare" was surely in the wind. It do

by Larry Powell Almost 750 thousand turkeys (shown here) and some 100 thousand hogs, were lost in catastrophic flooding in North Carolina during Hurricane Floyd in 1999.  Dave Gatley FEMA It's an all-too-familiar story. Given past history, chances are good that Florence will once again turn waterways in the Carolinas - home to hundreds of huge swine and poultry barns and waste lagoons, into a toxic mess of feces, urine and animal remains. It happened when Hurricane Floyd struck in 1999 and Mathew stormed in in 2016.  Even tho they were smaller storms than Florence is now, Mathew and Floyd left their marks, too. According to "The New Food Economy," 14 lagoons flooded and millions of animals died during Mathew. Environmental groups such as The Waterkeeper Alliance, documented what they called "fields of filth" left behind, as seen here.  Floyd's toll was also devastating. (See photo, above.) North Carolina's livestock produce more than

PIG PROGRESS The virus was confirmed on the farm, which consists of 3 adjacent properties in the southern county of Braila, Romania after water samples were sent to the authorities. Story here. -30- In Hogs We Trust - a critique of Manitoba's runaway hog industry. Part 111 - From Malaysia to Manitoba - the global magnitude of livestock diseases.

African Swine Fever in China Prompts Call for Review of Biosecurity on Canadian Farms   Farmscape for September 4, 2018 African Swine Fever has now been reported over a vast area in China.   A PinP photo. In light of this, Manitoba Pork is encouraging pork producers to reevaluate biosecurity.   The virus affects pigs of all ages causing high mortality and, while it doesn't affect humans and isn't considered a food safety risk, it is highly transmissible, it is trade limiting and it is federally reportable.   Jenelle Hamblin, the Manager of Swine Health Programs with Manitoba Pork, says the world is a smaller place than it once was with people and products moving in short amounts of time for many reasons. Clip-Jenelle Hamblin-Manitoba Pork:   As a sector we need to be normally aware of the people that are coming onto our premises and where they've been prior to coming but, in the case such as this, it's important to conside

The Guardian Swine fever has made its way into China, home to half the world’s pigs. Farmers in Estonia are already counting the cost. Story here. The images below show piglets with "PED," another deadly disease of hogs which has been  rampant in North America (& Manitoba) in recent years. Photos by Manitoba Pork. Related: Officials Worry Yet Another Lethal Pig Disease May be Headed to Canada. In Hogs We Trust  Part 111 - The magnitude of livestock diseases, worldwide.

by Larry Powell The Manager of the "Canada West Swine Health Intelligence Network"  warns, now that African Swine Fever (ASF) has been confirmed in China, the risk of it spreading to North America, has increased.  Dr. Jette Christensen, veterinary epidemeologist. Dr. Jette Christensen (above) describes ASF as "a serious and trade-limiting viral infection." Speaking on the industry-sponsored radio program, "Farmscape," she assured listeners, if  the Canadian industry follows import regulations, "they should be safe." But she also warns that the virus can survive for months outside the host in pork products. The swelling around the kidneys and the muscle hemorrhages shown here are  typical of pigs with  African swine fever.  Karen Apicelli USDA Dr. Christensen warns Canadian producers, that workers they hire, could bring the disease home with them after vacationing in China or Eastern Europe. And they should even be car

International Livestock Research Institute A piglet, one of countless who died of Porcine Epidemic  Diarrhea in Manitoba over the past 18 months. (A Manitoba Pork photo.)  Diseases deadly to hogs, some of which can also spread to humans, are legion. Long feared, it's now finally happened. African Swine Fever (ASF), an infectious and highly-lethal viral disease of pigs has, for the first time, reared its head in China.  Story here. RELATED; "In Hogs We Trust - Part 111"

FarmJournal’s PORK A Smithfield operation in Missouri. A Wikimedia photo.   A third lawsuit against Smithfield Foods had found the company guilty for “unreasonable nuisances they suffered from odors, flies and rumbling trucks.” A federal jury placed the fine at $473.5 million to six neighbors of pig farms. STORY HERE. Related:                                                                              "In Hogs We Trust"                                              A critique of hog industry expansion in Manitoba. Part 1 - Antibiotic Overuse. Part 11 - Government subsidies.   Part 111 - The consequences of animal diseases, worldwide. Part 1V - The environmental costs of an expanded hog industry in Manitoba. Part V - Who’s behind Manitoba’s drive to expand? Click here and find out! Is Manitoba's factory hog industry becoming its own worst enemy?

by Larry Powell The house fly. Photo by  USDA A veterinarian at the Walcott Veterinary Clinic in Iowa, Grant Allison, captured flies at swine operations which had tested positive for both diseases in Iowa and Minnesota. In his words, "Flies replicate in moist conditions that could involve manure. So there's an intimate relationship between manure and viruses and flies. The idea that flies might be a possible vector was immediately obvious. We came up with a plan and started by finding an outbreak and trapping flies to see if the flies were positive." They were. Not only were they carrying live viruses for both diseases, they were spreading them to healthy pigs and making them sick. What's more, the flies were even found to be infectious in January, usually considered the off-season for such harmful vectors. Dr. Allison recommends putting a larvicide in the hog feed as one tool in a program to achieve effective fly-control. He believes an extensive progra

PIG PROGRESS A research team has concluded that the viral disease - often considered the most deadly of all hog infections - spreads west at a speed of around 200 km per year. More here. The ear of an infected hog. ASF causes a condition called petechia - red or purple splotches due to bleeding into the skin. Photo credit - USDA RELATED: "In Hogs We Trust" - Part 3 - The consequences of animal diseases, worldwide.