Wisconsin Pseudorabies Outbreak

[Rogo]

-- From nonais.org --

WI Pseudorabies Outbreak
News

If you’ll remember it was a suppressive yet inconclusive outbreak of pseudorabies that led the government to kill the herd of pigs in Virginia in the Henshaw Incident.

Pseudorabies confirmed in Wisconsin swine herd

A pseudorabies outbreak in a swine herd in Clark County, Wis., was confirmed by the Natinonal Veterinary Services Laboratories on Wednesday.

… USDA has ordered that all swine herds within five miles of the outbreak be tested and that the infected herd, about 300 animals, destroyed within 15 days.

…Nine of the herd of 300 were infected with the virus. Most of the remaining animals will go to slaughter, APreported. Others too young or otherwise not appropriate for food will be euthanized.
-Meatingplace

It is interesting to note how differently the government is handling a case at a large commercial confinement swine operation - they’re using kid gloves instead of shotguns. Instead of having their animals gunned down before their eyes like happened in the Henshaw case the big commercial operators will get to take them to slaughter - obviously they’re not worried about putting this meat into the human food chain.

Why, you should ask, are private citizens and small operators handled so much more violently than the big corporate businesses?

rogo16@yahoo.com

[RedHogs]

psuedo outbreaks are fairly common....psuedo is a breeding disorder....a very dangerous virus to hog farmers. The henshaws couldn't catch all their animal to be tested....They couldn't confine their herd. Their fencing was a joke. These are the issues that should be discussed. The henshaws inability to take responsibility for their animals led to a serious problem as a diseased herd could not be "locked down". Unless i'm missing something NoFence and NoNAIS are two different issues.

[Jcran]

I am by no means a hog expert; I am simply researching as I get into possibly having a pasture "pig tractor" this summer and want to know if the pig can be in the same area as my goats(I DID have hogs in 4-H in high school but that was about a bazillion gazillion years ago) I googled the henshaw thing and the piece I read (I am guessing it was from nonais. folks) mentioned that Mr. Henshaw was/is a respected archer and hunting guide. Were there violations that he had incurred previously for loose hogs? Or was the raid the first time that USDA folks had come out to his place.

[RedHogs]

A psuedo outbreak is fairly common and when it happens there is a checklist for treatment / reaction. The first step is always immediate lock down. Then the farmer is given his options....all involve complete depopulation. He can allow the state to depopulate at market value or try and salvage some hogs at a better weight price / or contract buyer such has a sausage or meat plant - authorized to take psuedo positives. The initial test is often just a couple lab techs in a pick-up truck. The process of depopulation may take a week to set-up. So complete isolation is a must. The Henshaw "incident" was special because a man claimed to be a farmer who was not. If you can't catch - fence or identify your animals from the wild ones... how is that farming. In my state wild hogs are open seaon/ no limit. The state ask all wild hogs killed on your hog farm be tested because our area is high in psuedo. My test results on my herd (that i keep posted) are most recently 4/12/07. The psuedo neg. is the first test listed. The hard working people who work every day to prevent psuedo from spreading should be praised not run down by every new cause. I have made good friends with a number of these men and we regularly socialize after hours. There are mostly 3rd and 4th generation professional farmers who work their farm when they get home. Try cutting them some slack.

[highlands]

Originally Posted by RedHogs

psuedo outbreaks are fairly common....psuedo is a breeding disorder....a very dangerous virus to hog farmers. The henshaws couldn't catch all their animal to be tested....They couldn't confine their herd. Their fencing was a joke. These are the issues that should be discussed. The henshaws inability to take responsibility for their animals led to a serious problem as a diseased herd could not be "locked down". Unless i'm missing something NoFence and NoNAIS are two different issues.

RedHog, Some of the Henshaw's pigs were penned. The government agents killed those pigs too, without any testing. Your arguments are devoid of facts.

[Jcran]

Originally Posted by RedHogs

A psuedo outbreak is fairly common and when it happens there is a checklist for treatment / reaction. The first step is always immediate lock down. Then the farmer is given his options....all involve complete depopulation. He can allow the state to depopulate at market value or try and salvage some hogs at a better weight price / or contract buyer such has a sausage or meat plant - authorized to take psuedo positives. The initial test is often just a couple lab techs in a pick-up truck. The process of depopulation may take a week to set-up. So complete isolation is a must. The Henshaw "incident" was special because a man claimed to be a farmer who was not. If you can't catch - fence or identify your animals from the wild ones... how is that farming. In my state wild hogs are open seaon/ no limit. The state ask all wild hogs killed on your hog farm be tested because our area is high in psuedo. My test results on my herd (that i keep posted) are most recently 4/12/07. The psuedo neg. is the first test listed. The hard working people who work every day to prevent psuedo from spreading should be praised not run down by every new cause. I have made good friends with a number of these men and we regularly socialize after hours. There are mostly 3rd and 4th generation professional farmers who work their farm when they get home. Try cutting them some slack.

Redhog, please know that I am just interested in the information, I'm not trying to make any political statements of my own, I am just interested in the process. Are you saying that Mr. Henshaw ran a hog hunting program? But that he also said it was a farm? I am just confused. I agree that people SHOULD do everything they can to take care of each other as producers by responsibly testing their own critters, but I feel increasingly leery about my own federal government these days. I test my goats for CAE and CL...I was just wondering if Mr. Henshaw had tested positive and then had the USDA show up, or had previous violations for just not fencing his animals correctly? I am just trying to come to my own conclusions based on the information, I guess. Thanks.

[dbarjacres]

I live about 15 miles from this farm. If they destroy all his animals, I feel really bad for this family, as it's gonna hurt as that's all they do. I'm not a huge amish fan, but this is an amish family and they are very nice and keep a very clean farm. Luckily for him tho the amish community helps their own and he won't have a complete loss as us "english" may.

DH told me he heard there was a rabies outbreak on the radio the other day, on that farm, and I thought oh, no - I better vaccinate ALL our critters, but then asked him if it was PSEUDO rabies (for some reason, recalled that being a pig disease, even tho I know nothing on pigs!) and he thought that sounded right. Relief for me at least!

[RedHogs]

Quote:

Originally Posted by RedHogs
psuedo outbreaks are fairly common....psuedo is a breeding disorder....a very dangerous virus to hog farmers. The henshaws couldn't catch all their animal to be tested....They couldn't confine their herd. Their fencing was a joke. These are the issues that should be discussed. The henshaws inability to take responsibility for their animals led to a serious problem as a diseased herd could not be "locked down". Unless i'm missing something NoFence and NoNAIS are two different issues.



RedHog, Some of the Henshaw's pigs were penned. The government agents killed those pigs too, without any testing. Your arguments are devoid of facts.

The penned animal were depopulated also. Like i said, The policey is non-negotiable..... Complete depopulation is the only action. Highland ....what is your solution - psuedo testing is very acurate on positives, but hogs incontact with psuedo can remain dormant for years. Is the goverment responsible for housing the animals to see if they get it or not??? It is very sad to see this happen... i fully believe more could be done that market value for breeding stock. I believe an additional allowance should be made for show stock and registered stock..... but without the threat of loss why would farms practice boisecurity.

[haypoint]

Watch the news for wisconsin's second out break of psuedorabies, this time a Razor Back (Russian Wild Boar) that may have been at the Clark County farm. Expect another 5 mile quaritine and lots of testing. So far Wisconsin is holding on to it's USDA Psuedorabies-free status. If USDA yanks that status, it effectivlyshuts exports of all pigs out of Wisconsin, hurting hundreds of farmers.

[Up North]

Just got off the phone with my vet. As of today, you can still move pigs out of WI with no blood testing. Just a health certifcate from your vet is all that is needed. If you are specifically from Clark County then it wouldn't be as simple to move your pigs out of state. Of course depending on how pseudorabies testing goes in Clark Co. that could change things quickly for everyone else. I really hope no more cases are found! We'll be moving soon and I really want to be able to bring my pigs!

Heather

[RedHogs]

the catch-22, you just need a vet letter.....but when this happened in TN - the vets wouldn't sign off without testing.

[Up North]

Originally Posted by RedHogs

the catch-22, you just need a vet letter.....but when this happened in TN - the vets wouldn't sign off without testing.

Talked directly to my vet. He was glad he did not have to draw any blood on them. Just no pigs up in this area so none of the vets are used to working with them. My vet said the last time he had to draw blood on some hogs was 5 years ago. Unless more cases of pseudorabies pops up I don't forsee any problems. I don't care either way if we have to do some bloodwork. I just would be bummed if I was forced to sell off my pigs.

Heather

[haypoint]

You may be able to move hogs out of Wisconsin, but you can not ship any Wisconsin hogs into Michigan, regardless of a letter from the Vet or the Pope..

[Up North]

Originally Posted by haypoint

You may be able to move hogs out of Wisconsin, but you can not ship any Wisconsin hogs into Michigan, regardless of a letter from the Vet or the Pope..

Good thing I'm not moving to Michigan. I've never read anything about Michigan boarders being shut off to WI. Is this new since the pseudorabies outbreak? I have some people that bought some pigs from me last fall that are from Ironwood, MI. They get pigs every year and come to WI to get them. Would of bought some from me this month but I am sold out.

Heather

[RedHogs]

Wait.. i'm wrong- you're right- anyone can take hogs out of state without bloodwork.... it's the recieving state that has to draw blood. They don't make you do it twice because technically the hogs must go into isolation and be tested before entering the new herd.

[haypoint]

Michigan placed the ban of all Wisconsin's pigs as a result of the recent pseudorabies outbreak. So this ban is very recent. 12 years ago, Michigan discovered TB in some cattle in the lower penn. and Wisconsin stopped accepting all Michigan cattle. Michigan tested all cattle in the whole state and has isolated an area where TB exists and continues to monitor this area. Regaining TB-free Status is an exhaustive process spanning over a decade.Wisconsin continues to bann all Michigan cattle. If Wisconsin should lose their Pseudorabies-free status, stopping export to other states, it would hurt all Wisconsin hog farms for many years. Many fear that the feral and free-ranging Eurasian/Russian hogs could spred pseudorabies. Many states are discovering that allowing "Wild Boars" into their State is a very bad deal, as so many get loose and they breed like, well, hogs. Impossible to capture and difficult to hunt.

[Jcran]

Wow, a sure learning curve for me out here on the west coast. Do ALL states test? I've got friends who routinely head south of here to Southern Humboldt to hunt wild pig(flippin' gazillions of them down there-really destructive to our oaks and vineyards). They slaughter and bring their own meat home-I doubt they've ever tested ANYTHING. And if anyone has read "The Omnivore's Dilemna", the author goes pig hunting in the county north of San Francisco. He get himself a pig, but I don't hear word one of THAT getting tested either. Just wondering? How do folks back in Wisconsin do that...do hunters have to submit some meat or blood for testing?