“Heartbreaking.” This is how Wallerfield farmer Brian Maturine described the situation where 250 of his pigs will have to be culled after an outbreak of Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome (PRRS) on his farm.
Mr. Maturine told TTT News that about one month ago, one of his pigs tested positive for PRRS, a widespread viral disease that affects domestic pigs. He recalled that he noticed some unusual behaviour among the pigs, which prompted him to contact a vet.
“They’re breathing hard, loss of appetite, and actually seeing they breathing, stomach moving, breathing hard. And by the third day, seeing that sign, they started dropping down one by one and die. From the small ones and up to the big ones.”
After the pigs tested positive for the disease, he was told he would have to cull the entire herd.
“The reason why, once it’s on the farm, it spreads from pigs to pigs, not to other animals and not to humans. That’s the reason why because it spreads from pigs to pigs so they cannot take no chances with the animals.”
Mr. Maturine described the situation as a devastating loss.
“”The situation is not a nice situation to be in right now. Mentally and financially. Yeah, it’s taking a toll on me. Over five years of labour, I sweat. Over a hundred thousand, even into the millions.”
Mr. Maturine said he has been receiving support from the authorities thus far, and they visit the farm every day to monitor the situation.
TTT News also spoke to another farmer in the area, Wayne Bowen, who stated that this disease has been around since last year. He is calling on the authorities to disseminate more information on the disease to prevent future outbreaks.
“Yeah, well, when a situation like this arrive, it shouldn’t take a year before the Animal Health Division in the Ministry reach out to the farmers and educate the farmers of exactly what the situation is and how to deal with it. Don’t wait until it starts to become a crisis and then try to fix the crisis. Let we fix it, let we put things in place.”
Mr. Bowen reassured that farmers have not been selling the infected pork to consumers.