Vets are being asked to help pig producers assess their health status and biosecurity measures, as part of BPEX's new National Pig Health Improvement Project (PHIP).

The national programme is currently running alongside existing programmes in East Anglia, Yorkshire and the East Midlands and will cover all the remaining regions. BPEX will now start to combine all programmes into the National PHIP. So all English pig producers and vets can join the industry-wide drive to improve pig health and reduce costs.

BPEX says the national Pig Health Improvement Project (PHIP) project will need the support of veterinary surgeons to:

  1. encourage clients to take advantage of the free scheme
  2. complete and submit surveys of disease prevalence on farms
  3. complete the biosecurity audit, designed by pig vets, to help producers assess how they can improve defence against infections

BPEX regional health coordinator Helen Clarke said: "The surveys are filled in by vets during quarterly farm visits to gather information on prevalence of four key diseases - swine dysentery, PRRS, enzootic pneumonia and mange. This is then used to populate a confidential online mapping service, which PHIP members can use to keep informed of health challenges in their area.

"The biosecurity audit is a series of simple to answer questions about current biosecurity practice of a unit. This then forms the basis for biosecurity planning and discussions to help clients make improvements and review their impact."

A further benefit when producers sign up to the PHIP is free-of-charge post-mortem information from the BPEX Pig Health Scheme (BPHS). The BPHS provides producers with detailed post-mortem health reports when they submit pigs to participating abattoirs.

Clients who are:

  • members of the regional programmes in Yorkshire and East Anglia will now need to register with the National PHIP to continue their membership and receive the additional benefits
  • members of the East Midlands programme are already aligned with the new National project.

Practices can claim £50 per unit for completing the survey and biosecurity audits. This still needs to be claimed through specific regional systems because of current funding contracts.

Contact Helen Clarke for details:  helen.clarke@bpex.ahdb.org.uk or 07973 701369. Visit http://www.pighealth.org.uk/

 

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