The Chair of Ontario Pork thinks the different control measures being put in place are working at reducing the spread of PED.

Amy Cronin says they had strategies in place based on the U-S experience with the disease.

However, she says they still found it transmitting through routes they hadn’t expected, so they’re continuing to find new ways of dealing with the virus.

Cronin says the hog sector is looking forward to the summer.

The PED virus doesn’t survive as well in the warmer temperatures as it does in the cold.

She says that should give them a chance to take further steps to eradicate the disease before heading back into the cooler weather in the fall.

Cronin says they have over 900 applications from producers, transporters, assembly yards and processors for the Growing Forward 2 funding earmarked for PED prevention.

She’s optimistic the almost 8 million dollars available under that program will improve the ability of the industry to deal not only with PED but with other potential threats in the future.

Cronin says they ran into some surprises and are still learning new things about the virus.

Cronin says the industry is looking forward to the warmer summer months when the virus doesn’t survive as well as it does in the cold.

Cronin says the long-term impact of the GF2 biosecurity funding could go well beyond dealing just with PED.