Canada-Drop in pork exports.

CANADA-DROP IN PORK EXPORTS.

Canada’s pork exports have dropped 10% to 15%, following the weekend announcement that the Canadian Food Inspection Agency had found H1N1 virus in a swine herd in the western province of Alberta.

The estimate reflects the impact of the weekend discovery, said Jacques Pomerleau, executive director of Canada Pork International, the industry’s export promotion agency.

China has since banned pork and pigs from Alberta .

All 2,200 hogs on a farm in central Alberta are under quarantine, with biosecurity measures in place that limit human contact with the pigs.

The hogs infected with the H1N1 flu virus on a farm in Western Canada will enter the food chain if they fully recover during their 10-day quarantine, said the agriculture minister for Alberta.

At the end of the quarantine period, the CFIA will recheck the pigs. If there are no traces of flu, they will be shipped for slaughter, where there are further checks at packing plants, said Agriculture Minister George Groeneveld in an interview with Reuters.

"I think (consumers) should have a lot of confidence," said Mr. Groeneveld, who raises cattle, adding that flu in general is a common sickness for hogs. "Maybe it’s not H1N1, but they always get flu, it’s such a common thing."

If hogs show any sign of fever or flu at the slaughterhouse they’re culled, he said.

"They don’t go to the food chain, they don’t go to the pet food chain, they’re rendered."

The CFIA has said food supply safety is not affected by the detection of the virus in the Alberta hogs and that Canadian pork is safe to eat.

"I have a lot of confidence in the system," said Mr. Groeneveld.

Canada exported 1.1 million tonnes of pork last year, accounting for more than half of its production.

Canada Pork International had estimated on Thursday that pork exports had dropped 5% to 10% because of the flu.

financialpost.com