Pork producers gathered in Steinbach Thursday night to get an update on the situation surrounding the Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea virus.

About 35 people attended the meeting.

Manitoba Pork Chair George Matheson said it`s been encouraging to see no new cases of the disease in the past couple of weeks. As of Friday morning, the number of new on-farm cases of the disease this year was sitting at 60. Fifty-eight of those were in the southeast, while two were in southcentral Manitoba.

Matheson notes it was concerning to see the disease spread to the west side of the Red River, after cases were discovered in the Altona and Lowe Farm areas.

Manitoba Pork Chair George Matheson

"There`s been no negligence," he said. "The Chief Veterinarian Office has been on top of it all. I believe those pigs will be moved out shortly and those facilities will be thoroughly cleaned and as much as possible, we will try and keep all pig movements to the southeast infected area of the province."

Matheson notes that Manitoba Pork will be hiring a swine health officer in the coming weeks to help fight the disease.

One of the speakers at the meeting was Dr. Glen Duizer, animal health surveillance veterinarian with Manitoba Agriculture`s Chief Veterinarian Office.

He explained how the disease is spreading.

"There's a lot of different risk factors associated with it. There's no one factor that we can say for certain is causing the disease to spread. There are things associated with biosecurity, things associated with animal movement, things associated with weather conditions. All of those factors are potentially playing a role in how the disease is spread in this current outbreak."

Dr. Glen Duizer - Animal Health Surveillance Vet with MB Ag

Duizer noted that the wind can play a factor in spreading the disease.

Manitoba Pork is reminding producers to sign the Producer Release Forms, which allows them to share information to help fight the disease.

Matheson is confident they can beat the virus.

"The effort's been put in. We're making logical decisions. I'm hoping it can only add up to a positive outcome."

Officials will gather in Winnipeg next week to discuss the current truck washing regulations, which is believed to have been a factor in the current outbreak.

About 35 people attended Thursday's meeting at the Steinbach Legion Hall