Tests have confirmed a “devastating” virus has struck swine herds in eight states, including Iowa and Illinois.
The National Pork Producers Council is committing 410-thousand dollars to research aimed at combatting the disease. The virus — known as P-E-D-V — is not transmitted to humans and is not considered a threat to food safety, but the vomiting, diarrhea and dehydration it causes can kill up to 90 percent of baby pigs in a herd. This is the first time PEDV has been idenfied in the western hemisphere, although it exists in Europe and Asia. Diagnostic labs at Iowa State University and the University of Minnesota have confirmed 103 cases of the virus.
Besides Iowa and Illinois, tests have confirmed the virus is present in swine herds in Ohio, Indiana, Minnesota, Michigan, Oklahoma and Colorado. There is no vaccine available for the virus today, although Howard Hill of the Pork Producers Council says a lab plans to start testing a vaccine late this summer.
Some “good, hot days” in Iowa could kill the virus, according to Hill. Hill works for Iowa Select Farms, an Iowa Falls-based pork operation that employs over 900 people in 43 Iowa counties.
