According to the National Veterinary Services Laboratories (NVSL), a swine virus outbreak is resulting in high death rates of young pigs in the United States for the first time. The first case was reported May 16, 2013 in Iowa.
The swine virus known as Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea (PED) detected in several states in the U.S. including Iowa, has raised concerns in the U.S. pork industry. The deadly virus is known to affect young pigs. It was first diagnosed in Great Britain in 1971 and spread in Europe and became an endemic pig disease in Asia since 1982, according to Ames Tribune.
While the reason for the outbreak in the U.S. remains unknown, the Colorado Department of Agriculture's State Veterinarian's Office is investigating the possible cause.
"Further testing and epidemiologic investigation will be available later in the week and may reveal a deeper understanding and background of the disease outbreak," said state veterinarian, Dr. Keith Roehr. "I encourage swine owners to contact their local veterinarian if they observe clinical signs of the virus in their herd."
The symptoms of the PED include gastroenteritis, dehydration, diarrhea, vomiting and death in young pigs while the older pigs may show symptoms of only vomiting, diarrhea and anorexia.
Rodney "Butch" Baker, a veterinarian at Iowa State University, who heads the Iowa Pork Industry Center, said that the virus affects piglets less than 2 weeks old with mortality rate as much as 90 percent in Iowa farms.
"When pigs are born on a farm that's undergoing an outbreak with this virus and their mothers have not (developed) immunity, the piglets are completely susceptible," Baker told Ames Tribune. "So we have very high mortality in the early stages of an outbreak."
A high mortality rate is distressing for the pig farmers as it is a major business loss.
The outbreak of the PED virus in pigs does not pose a threat to human health as it is not a zoonotic disease, which spreads between vertebrate animals and humans.
According to a report from Food and Environment Reporting Network, last year, pig farmers in the U.S. often feed ractopamine, a drug banned on farms in Europe and China, which has "resulted in more reports of sickened or dead pigs than any other livestock drug on the market."
Several health organizations including the U.S. Department of Agriculture, state animal health officials, veterinary diagnostic laboratories, swine producers and industries are jointly working to manage the PED outbreak in the U.S.
