The Saskatchewan Pork Development Board will receive up to $260,000 in funding towards research into Brachyspira hampsonii and vibriosis, announced Member of Parliament Brad Trost in Saskatoon today.
Brachyspira hampsonii is a newly discovered bacterium, first identified in Saskatchewan in 2009. The symptoms of infection closely resemble those of B. hampsonii and lab tests are required to determine the species of the causal agent. Infected swine often exhibit with bloody diarrhea, causing losses in feed efficiency and increased use of medication. Vibriosis or bovine genital campylobacteriosis (BCG), on the other hand, can cause infertility and early embryonic death in cattle.
“Brachyspira hampsonii is an emerging swine disease in western Canada which needs to be better understood and controlled because it is very hard to eliminate from a herd when infected,” said Sask Pork Chairman Florian Possberg in a release. “BCG also has the potential to seriously reduce the calf crop in the important western cattle herd, so we welcome the AgriInnovation Program funding to develop products to control these serious threats.”
The investment is made possible through Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s AgriInnovation Program under Growing Forward 2.
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