Following each quarter, the Canada West Swine Health Intelligence Network (CWSHIN) analyses swine health data provided through surveys of veterinary practitioners, from veterinary and biomedical sciences (VBS) laboratories and abattoirs to assess swine health status.

In an interview with Farmscape, CWSHIN Manager Dr Jette Christensen said that during the fourth quarter of 2018 the number of condemnations due to respiratory lesions at federally inspected abattoirs in Saskatchewan and Manitoba were higher than in any other regions in Canada.

Dr Christensen explained:

"When we looked at the abattoir data, we actually could see that the number of positive cases for PRRS and mycoplasma hyopneumoniae has been increasing in 2018 in the VBS laboratory that has submissions from Manitoba.

"So we took that information from our surveillance and discussed it at our quarterly meeting with our practitioners and we generally agreed that respiratory viruses will not cause condemnation at abattoirs on their own.

"But, in combination with bacterial diseases, such as mycoplasma hyopneumoniae, Glässer’s disease or actinobacillus suis, they might cause lesions at slaughter so we were thinking that pigs infected with respiratory viruses such as PRRS or influenza early in life were predisposed for getting lesions at slaughter when they get the bacterial disease late in their finishing stage."

Dr Christensen encouraged producers to monitor and discuss their condemnation rates with their veterinary practitioners.

She said that if rates are higher than they should be, ask why and what might be done because it could be an indication that there is something hidden in the health status of the herd.