Manitoba Pork in partnership with the Manitoba Livestock Manure Management Initiative and Manitoba Agriculture, Food and Rural Development is conducting a manure sampling project to identify the underlying presence of PEDv on sites within Manitoba.

Mark Fynn, an animal care specialist with Manitoba Pork, says the project allows producers to sample the manure out of their pits for the presence of the virus.

Mark Fynn-Manitoba Pork:

The project is to look at the underlying prevalence of PEDv on sites in Manitoba and there's a secondary component in the research project that's going to look at the survivability of the virus that we find on sites if we find it on sites in the manure lagoons and in the soil after it's been applied or spread on the fields and also on the cleaning protocols for the equipment after it's been used.

What we're really looking to do here is take a look at what could be considered undiagnosed cases of PEDv especially in nursery and finisher barns that show more subtle signs of the disease than in sow barns.

After the producers have collected samples and submitted them to the lab the lab will forward the results of that testing onto their herd veterinarian who will then share it with the producers.

The producers then have the choice to share it with their manure applicators to allow them to know what their status is and to allow them to take the right precautions to avoid spreading it from one place to the other.

We'll also be collecting the information in an aggregate form as part of the research component to really present the survey data of all the sites as well.

Fynn notes any farm on which the virus is detected will then be engaged in the research component of the project.

To participate visit manitobapork.com or call 204-897-0622.