While the Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea (PED) Virus has been the focus of attention over the past few months, Manitoba's pork industry is also concerned about another virus.

The name of the disease is Porcine Reproductive & Respiratory Syndrome (PRRS). In the breeding herd the disease can cause still births, poor conception rates, and poor semen production by boars. The disease can also affect the respiratory system, with signs of pneumonia and severe flu infections, sometimes leading to sudden death in adult pigs. PRRS is especially hard on suckling piglets.

"In the past eight to twelve months, we've seen a new PRRS strain show up that causes quite severe disease in a few farms now," said Dr. Blaine Tully, president of the Canadian Association of Swine Veterinarians. "The disease really depends on what stage of production is affected."

He notes the disease has been around since the mid-1980's, adding there are about 12 to 15 farms currently dealing with the virus in Manitoba. The first cases were identified in the fall of 2016, mainly in the southeast, although new cases have been discovered in the Interlake and other parts of the province.

Tully says they aren't sure how the disease is spreading, adding finding an effective vaccine has been difficult.

"The way the virus replicates inside the pig, there's opportunities for viral mutation so that we start to have a strain drift away from the parent virus strain. What that causes is an opportunity for a vaccine strain to be quite different from what's in the pig, and in the case of this new Manitoba strain, unfortunately we don't have a really good vaccine tool in our toolbox to try and provide some protection to herds at this point."

As with PED, producers are encouraged to focus on biosecurity to help prevent the spread of the disease.

Tully notes the U.S. has also seen multiple pathogenic strains, similar to what has been happening in Manitoba. He says the disease is traceable to parts of the Midwest going back to 1998.