Farmscape for April 1, 2026

The coordinator of Squeal on Pigs Manitoba says the identification of African Swine Fever in wild boar in Spain has heightened the urgency of eradiating wild pigs in Manitoba.
African Swine Fever was confirmed in wild boar in Spain in late November ending over 30 years of Spain being ASF-free although the virus has not infected domestic pigs.
Dr. Wayne Lees, the coordinator of Squeal on Pigs Manitoba, says because wild boar can be carriers of the disease the identitarian of African Swine Fever in wild boar in Spain has really put a focus on how ASF could impact Manitoba if it was ever introduced and is a very significant influencer on the urgency of removing wild pigs.

Quote-Dr. Wayne Lees-Squeal on Pigs Manitoba:
We've had really good support from the provincial government, from the federal government and from Manitoba Pork Council in our efforts in trying to ramp up our ability to find out where the pigs are and find out how best to trap them.
The issue in Spain is that wild boar are a native species there.
They actually have a population that is indigenous there and it becomes very difficult to try to track down all of these animals.
I was looking at the estimated density of wild boar in Spain and I was astounded because their density of wild boar is at least 10 times what we expect our most highly dense area is in the Spruce Woods area.
So, the situation in Canada is very different from the situation in Spain but we can certainly learn from their efforts as to how they're going about to control the populations.

Dr. Lees notes 206 wild pigs were trapped and removed from the Manitoba landscape last year and, when those pigs are removed, they are tested for African Swine Fever helping to the world that we don't have that disease.
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Bruce Cochrane.

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