Small Lot Manual
Biosecurity
Why is biosecurity so important?
Biosecurity is critical to help minimize the spread of multiple diseases in the swine industry. The list of diseases is long, and they can be very devastating for the barns and/or the industry. Some example of diseases would be Porcine Respiratory and Reproductive Syndrome (PRRS), Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea (PED), African swine fever (ASF) or Foot and Mouth Disease.
The impact of such diseases in barns that have never been exposed is huge: increase in mortality (PED, for example, affects young animals very severely with 100% loss for piglets under 10 days of age), loss in production (PRRS can cause abortions and poor reproduction in sow herds), increase in medication cost (to help alleviate the disease and minimize losses), etc. Depending on the disease, the stage of production and the size of the barn, an outbreak could cost a producer anywhere from a few thousand to millions of dollars.
African Swine Fever (ASF)
African swine fever (ASF) is a viral disease that only impacts pigs. As it spreads around the globe, it poses a significant risk to the health of the Canadian swine herd, the pork industry and the Canadian economy.