Significant Diseases Charter: vet Q&A

Established by AHDB, the Charter is an email alert system to provide producers and their vets with timely email alerts in the event of an outbreak of Swine Dysentery or Porcine Epidemic Diarrhoea virus (PEDv).

Following industry consultation, membership is a requirement of Red Tractor standards as of 1 November 2021.

Producers can sign up to the Charter via their PigHub account.

When registering, they will be asked to nominate their pig vet, who must notify AHDB in the event of a confirmed outbreak of Swine Dysentery or a suspected case of PEDv on the producer’s unit.

Vets will also receive disease alerts about outbreaks of Swine Dysentery or PEDv. 

Following industry consultation, membership is a requirement of Red Tractor standards as of 1 November 2021 and members must report confirmed cases of Swine Dysentery or suspected cases of PEDv to AHDB.

Vets can report cases through PigHub or by emailing Pig.Health@ahdb.org.uk

Vets must report outbreaks to AHDB on behalf of their client, either by completing the ‘vet survey’ on PigHub or by emailing Pig.Health@ahdb.org.uk.

Vets must report to AHDB in the following situations:

1. Confirmed case of swine dysentery: a positive laboratory diagnosis by culture and/or PCR of Brachyspira hyodysenteriae in the presence of clinical signs of diarrhoea in the pigs.

2. Suspected case of PEDv based on presence of clinical signs. PEDv is a notifiable disease in England, Scotland and Ireland and must be reported to:

• England: call Defra Rural Services Helpline on 03000 200 301, who will then notify AHDB
• Scotland: Contact Quality Meat Scotland via the Scottish Pig Disease Control Centre (SPDCC) on 01466 705 247, who will then notify AHDB
• Ireland: Contact the local office of the Department of Agriculture Food and the Marine and then notify AHDB

PEDv is not a notifiable disease in Wales, the Isle of Man or Northern Ireland. Vets in Wales should get testing advice from the APHA Veterinary Investigation Centre in Carmarthen and report the suspected case to AHDB.

If there is reason to think a result may be a false positive, or if there is doubt about the PCR result which means it needs further investigation, this should be resolved before reporting to the Charter.

Log into your PigHub account and select ‘Veterinarians’.

Select ‘Disease Charter Vet Survey’ from the Pig Health menu.

Select the disease survey from the ‘select scope’ drop down box then select the unit you are reporting on behalf of and then select ‘Start survey.’

Complete the questions in the survey and select ‘Next’.

Select ‘Submit survey’ to notify AHDB of the disease outbreak.

Once complete, AHDB will contact you to discuss details of the outbreak and draft communications to send to Charter members.

Yes, all Red Tractor assured units already have access to PigHub to upload their antibiotic usage data through the electronic Medicines Book (eMB).

This same platform is used to sign up to the Significant Diseases Charter. Click here to access PigHub or email Pig.Health@ahdb.org.uk to register.

No. Red Tractor will recognise the Scottish Pig Health Charter as an equivalent scheme to the Significant Diseases Charter and producers only need to be a member of one.

For more information on the Scottish Pig Charter please contact QMS or visit the website.

The postcode outcode (first four digits i.e.: YO26), region of the outbreak, details about the disease and next steps are shared with Charter members and their vets.

Information will also be shared with allied industry members indicating the location of the outbreak by county only.

For confidentiality reasons, where there are less than five units in a county, AHDB will revert to only reporting the county of the affected unit and not the postcode outcode.

All communications will be shared in draft form with the affected producer and their vet before being circulated.

Full terms and conditions of the charter can be viewed here.

Producers can show which of their units are signed up to the Charter by logging onto PigHub and looking for a red + symbol next to their account.

An additional clause has been added to the Red Tractor Quarterly Vet Report (QVR). The farm’s designated vet must use this to confirm that the unit has reported any outbreaks of Swine Dysentery or PEDv as per the charter terms and conditions

The QVR wording will state: Since the previous quarterly veterinary visit, reporting of relevant diseases to the AHDB Significant Diseases Charter or Scottish Pig Health Charter has been done in accordance with the relevant Charter terms and conditions (tick N/A if no relevant disease outbreaks have occurred).

Yes, once a unit has tested negative you can notify AHDB who will send a situation update.

Follow the steps to log into the Vet Survey in PigHub.

Select ‘Reporting freedom from Swine Dysentery/PEDv) and complete the questionnaire in the same way as when you reported the outbreak.

This will be submitted to AHDB who can issue an update to Charter members.

Yes. In signing up to the Charter producers are giving consent for their vet to share details of any outbreaks of Swine Dysentery or PEDv.

The terms and conditions mean that all cases of Swine Dysentery must be reported to AHDB as soon as possible and any suspect cases of PEDv to Defra rural services (if based in England) or Quality Meat Scotland (if based in Scotland).

For more information email Pig.Health@ahdb.org.uk or get in touch with Lauren Turner.