University of Guelph Prof. Robert Friendship’s expertise on African swine fever was featured in a story on CTVNews.ca.
The story looked at why various outbreaks of the viral disease in China and Eastern Europe is affecting bacon prices in Canada. Friendship explained how the outbreaks have occurred, why they are leading to mass culls of pigs, and the effect on global pork prices.
Friendship was also featured in a CBC Kitchener story on how swine fever is affecting Canada’s pork industry. He said Canada has a strong track record of keeping out diseases like African swine fever, but said that if the virus were to enter, “it could be devastating for us as producers.”
Friendship is a veterinarian and professor in the Ontario Veterinary College’s Department of Population Medicine. He teaches swine health management, disease surveillance and food safety, and has been a faculty member at OVC for 40 years.
He belongs to the American and the Canadian Associations of Swine Veterinarians and the European Association of Porcine Health Management. In March, Ontario Pork presented him with an Industry Achievement Award for his contributions to the pork industry.