Posted May 29, 2014
An
Indiana farm has become the first to publicly confirm that it suffered a second
outbreak of a deadly pig virus, according to an article on NBC News available here. Fox News also
published an article available here, Reuters here, and Global Post here.
For
more information on efforts to combat the virus, recent posts from this blog are
available here, here, and here.
Porcine
Epidemic Diarrhea virus (PEDv) has wiped out more than 10 percent of the U.S.
pig population, and it is predicted that losses from the virus in the world’s
biggest pork exporter could cut production by as much as 7 percent, according
to Fox News.
Along
with decimating herds, PEDv has also sent prices surging, but it is likely to
subside before the end of year as the causes are being identified, the head of
World Organization for Animal Heath (OIE) said.
“I'm confident. Like in all other
diseases we know how to stop them once we have identified the causes properly,”
OIE Director General Bernard Vallat told Reuters.
He said that the spread of the virus
was likely due to a lack of hygienic precautions, notable disinfecting trucks
that enter and leave farms, but was potentially linked to feed, according to Fox News.
The farm chose to be anonymous, but
their veterinarian, Matt Ackerman, spoke on their behalf. The farm “does an
excellent job of sanitation,” Ackerman said. “That's why it's so hard to figure
out why they're struggling with it,” according to Reuters.
The state and federal effort to
stamp out PEDv has operated on the assumption that a pig, once infected,
develops immunity and will not be affected by the disease again for several
years. Likewise, farmers that had been affected were not known to suffer
additional outbreaks.
Repeat
outbreaks have occurred since the virus was identified a year ago, however,
farms have not publicly confirmed before now.
PEDv
outbreaks recur in about 30 percent of infected farms nationwide, the American
Association of Swine Veterinarians told Reuters.
Hog futures reached a record high
last month and are up more than 26 percent at $115 per hundredweight since the
first U.S. outbreak was confirmed last summer. Retail pork prices have also set
new records, and a wave of re-infection could cause even more losses to the
nation’s hog herds.
For more information on animal
feeding operations, please visit the National Agricultural Law Center’s website
here.
