Caption: Las Lomas farmer Tyrell Richardson
By Alicia Chamely
LOCAL pig farmers are calling on the Ministry of Land, Agriculture and Fisheries (MLAF) to allow for the importation and use of the Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome (PRRS) vaccine, saying the ministry’s policy of disease eradication is not a realistic and had the potential to kill an already struggling industry.
Their call comes on the heels of the MLAF’s decision to cull 200 pigs at a Wallerfield farm, after the herd tested positive for the viral Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome . The pigs belonged to farmer Brian Maturine, who calculated the loss of his animals as costing $700,000.
While PRRS cannot be transmitted to humans and meat from a pig with virus was safe for consumption, ministry protocol was to eradicate the infected animals.
Managing Director of Erin Farm Ian Leong Poi said, “The vaccine is a very simple thing to use. It’s very safe to use, but they are determined to eradicate so…I don’t see the rationale behind it.”
He said local pork farmers had been advocating for the change in policy as to how the PRRS virus was handled and for the use of the vaccine.
Leong Poi said the ministry’s position of total eradication posed a serious threat to the local pork industry, especially to smaller farmers like Maturine who now must deal with loss of his entire herd.
He said, “This is really going to kill the industry, if they keep trying to eradicate this thing, because this virus will be popping up all over Trinidad.”
Questioned as to whether the herd closure technique used by foreign farms could work locally to prevent transmission and allow for the virus to pass, Leong Poi said it would be difficult for smaller farmers, noting it was an extremely technical process that required strict biosecurity protocols.
Leong Poi said for the local pork industry, especially for small farmers, the vaccine was the best option.
While the vaccine was not a cure, it allowed for the pigs immune system to actively attack the virus, reduced transmission and symptoms, and sped up recovery time.
Reflecting on the decision by MLAF to cull Maturine’s herd, Las Lomas based pig farmer Tyrell Richardson said “It is hard for a young pig farmer, and the ministry’s only alternative is to cull his pigs.”
Richardson said this could have been avoided, had the ministry had the vaccine available to farmers.
He said, “All the government has to do is bring in the vaccine to prevent situations like this.”
Richardson said there was even the potential to produce the vaccine locally, noting the country’s veterinary labs had the resources to do so.
Joining Richardson’s call for the vaccine was fellow pig farmer Sham Afoon.
Afoon said there were serious issues in the local pork industry, noting it had long been neglected by those in authority.
On the topic of PSSR, he too called for the vaccine and backed up Richardson’s assertion that the vaccine could be produced locally.
Afoon said the spread of PSSR was not something that could be easily controlled, comparing it Covid. He said, for example, if someone were to go to a farm with PSSR and get a speck of pig waste from an infected pig on their shoes, then go to another pig farm in those same shoes, chances are they had now unknowingly infected another farm.
Afoon, Richardson, and Leong Poi all agreed another factor in the spread of the disease was the illegal importation of animals and as, Leong Poi noted, rampant praedial larceny.
They all noted in these cases, an unsuspecting farmer, unaware that the pig was smuggled into the country or stolen from another farm, could end up purchasing an asymptomatic pig, which would go on to infect their entire herd.
Afoon said there was little the farmers, or the ministry could do to prevent the spread of PSSR. He said the best way to control PSSR was through the vaccine.
Attempts to contact the Chief Veterinary Officer Dr Lisa Musai and the Minister of Land, Agriculture and Fisheries Ravi Ratiram for comment were unsuccessful.
ABOUT Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome (PRRS)
PRRS is a contagious viral disease affecting pigs. First discovered in 1987, it causes reproductive failure in sows and severe respiratory disease in piglets and growing pigs.
Humans cannot contract PRRS and consuming meat from a pig with the virus has shown to be safe.
Symptoms of PRRS in pigs include pneumonia, late-term abortions in pregnant sows and secondary respiratory infections.
There is no cure for PRRS. There are however vaccines that can reduce transmission, prevent secondary infection and shorten illness times.
International veterinary standards indicate that should a herd test positive for PRRS the herd closure technique should be implemented. This involves the quarantine of the herd, sanitization and not introducing any additional swine into the existing herd. Veterinary medical guidelines say the infected herd should be tested regularly and normally the herd should be virus free after six to eight months.
Caption: Las Lomas pig farmer Tyrell Richardson says the vaccine is the best way to control the PRRS virus in pigs.
Photo: Tyrell Richardson
