Manitoba Pork says producers need to be more careful of biosecurity at assembly yards. According to the organization, not enough producers are following the basic steps to avoid bringing diseases back to their farms.

Manager of quality assurance and animal care programs Mark Fynn says the biggest misstep producers make is not covering or changing boots when getting out of trucks at assembly yards.

"The issue with that is, when they step on the ground there, whatever could be on the ground, including livestock or swine diseases, could be brought into the trailer... or  truck cab when they leave the site," he says. "Becoming complacent around that can allow the disease to spread through stuff like the truck cab, and if you're unaware, you might go straight from that truck cab into the barn at some other time and potentially bring swine disease in with you."

Manitoba Pork suggests putting on a pair of plastic boot covers before touching the ground when getting out of the truck, and then taking them off while stepping back into the truck. Producers shouldn't touch the ground without the covers, and should ensure the used boot covers don't touch anything inside the truck.

"The nature of assembly yards is that everyone brings their culled sows to those yards, so if they have a disease on their own farm, it will be brought to here," Fynn says. "Considering all the sow farms end up bringing their sows to these yards, it's basically a mixing ground for disease, and the assembly yards have been very good at notifying producers of that fact."

Fynn says good biosecurity measure can help prevent the spread of diseases like PED and Seneca Valley Virus.