Wild pigs causing havoc across the province

Hundreds of farmed pigs are getting slaughtered because of disease, with wild pigs shouldering part of the blame.

Manitoba Pork wants you to report if you see them or any signs of them.

Wild pigs can carry multiple diseases, including African Swine Fever (ASF) which spreads quickly and can spread to farmed pigs. The pigs also cause damage to crops, they endanger other species like birds, small animals and plants, they have no natural predators and they reproduce quickly.

Diseases that pigs carry can spread through feces for up to 11 days, several weeks in carcasses and over 15 weeks in frozen meat which is why pig farmers and handlers need to take extra precautions, so they don’t get sick.

Patrick Haegeman, 29, used to work at Maple Leaf in Landmark, at the wash bay, where making sure disease didn’t spread was extremely important. He said around every three months pigs from a farm in the area would get sick, and the rest of the pigs from that farm would have to get slaughtered.

“Once you have (a disease found), you have to eliminate everything in the barn, including wherever you were washing,” Haegeman said. “Everything has to be decontaminated immediately.”

Haegeman said employees had to take showers before and after every shift so that disease wouldn’t spread.

“We had to prevent contaminants that we may have carried into the facility and any contaminants from another facility when we’ve completed our job,” he said. “We don’t want to be bringing any unnecessary virus anywhere from our daily life.”

He said that all trailers that transport pigs have to get washed when they get in and when they leave. He also had to sanitize them whenever disease was found in contact with a trailer.

In 2023, Squeal on Pigs Manitoba got 157 reports of wild pigs from the public and removed 127 from the wild, but sightings are still being reported this year.

Jenelle Hamblin, Director of Swine Health for Manitoba Pork said reporting is the most important way to help prevent disease among other problems pigs cause.

“We rely on public sightings and recordings to do our program, to understand where in the province they are,” said Hamblin. “They are an invasive species; they cause a lot of ecosystem damage and crop damage. It’s really a matter of controlling the population.”

“There are many preparedness activities underway at all levels of government and industry to prepare should we see African Swine Fever come into Canada. Invasive swine populations is on that list of preparation activities to consider should we see that disease come into our country.”

In the last 12 months, there have been sightings in municipalities all over the southeast. Since January reports have come from the RMs of La Broquerie and Whitemouth.

Provincially, wild pig levels are the highest in the RM of Victoria near Holland and the surrounding area where there have been over 75 sightings in the past year. Reports have come from every region of the province.

Overseas, ASF has spread and is now a big concern in China and Europe, with Hong Kong officials selectively slaughtering over 14,000 pigs between November and January earlier this year.

ASF hasn’t been found in either farmed or wild pigs in Canada yet, and the only place in North America where it is commonly found is in the Dominican Republic. Although ASF can’t spread from pig to human, other diseases can, and it’s important to report wild pigs that could potentially carry those dangerous diseases.

Hamblin added that if you have pigs or are considering starting a pig farm, having fencing or even two rows of fences should be added to keep wild pigs away.

“Fencing is extremely important, to prevent contact with any pigs that have access to the outdoors.”

Signs of wild pigs include wallowing, tree and post rubs, tracks and rooting, if you see any of these signs or if you see any wild pigs, report them to 1-833-SPOTPIG or fill out a report on their website at squealonpigsmb.org.