Deadly pig virus detected in state

USDA reports 1 animal infected

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has confirmed the first instance of the deadly porcine epidemic diarrhea (PED) virus in Arkansas.

The finding, included in a weekly report released Thursday, makes Arkansas the 31st state to report an instance of the virus. Around 8 million pigs have died from the virus in the past year, according to the National Pork Producers Council.

According to the report, the sample was tested during the week of June 8 and was from a suckling pig, which is a young animal that is still nursing. Young pigs are most susceptible to the virus.

In the U.S., instances of biological samples containing the virus have been declining since late March, according to the report. However, when temperatures start dropping in the fall, veterinarians expect infections to rise again.

The report did not include the location of the infected piglet. Joelle Hayden, a USDA spokesman, said Friday that it is the USDA's policy not to release the location of the farm, including the city, county or geographic region.

"It is ... policy for many reasons, including the fact that we want producers to participate in these programs, and feel that reporting the names or locations would discourage this," she said in an email. "Additionally, in the case of PED, it is neither a human health nor food safety risk, so there is no benefit in the public having that information."

The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette filed a Freedom of Information Act request Friday with Tonya Woods, at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, seeking the location of the infected pig. Woods didn't respond to the request Friday.

Pat Badley, Arkansas' state veterinarian, said because the testing was done through the National Animal Health Laboratory Network, and not through the state laboratory, he did not have additional information.

Still, he said he suspected that a smaller producer owned the infected pig.

"The commercial hog people would have called all of us for sure if it had been in their operations," he said. "It's probably not from a commercial hog grower."

The virus does not affect food safety and cannot infect humans or other animals. However, the disease has spread quickly throughout the country since May 2013, killing about 10 percent of the U.S. herd and lifting pork prices to all-time highs.

Pigs less than 10-14 days old have mortality rates around 100 percent.

Paul Sundberg, a veterinarian and senior vice president of science and technology for the National Pork Board, said producers should focus on biosecurity measures and talk to their veterinarians to prevent the spread of the virus.

"The most important message is one of biosecurity on the farm itself," he said "It's not just having a biosecurity plan, but making sure it's implemented and complied with."

He said that includes disinfecting, isolating sick pigs and limiting contact between animals and visitors by having a clear line of separation.

The report follows a June 5 federal order that mandated reporting instances of the virus and the announcement of $26.2 million in USDA funding to combat the disease.

The USDA funding included $11.1 million to support biosecurity practices in infected herds and $3.9 million for vaccine development.

Sundberg said vaccines historically have not been able to rein in such viruses, but was hopeful that advances in medicine would allow this vaccine to work better.

"You can expect that a vaccine is an additional tool that a producer and vet may consider," he said. "It most likely will not be a silver bullet to end this outbreak."

On June 16, the USDA issued the first conditional license for a vaccine that could help control the virus. Sundberg said other companies will follow with more vaccines.

F. Dustin Clark, University of Arkansas cooperative extension service veterinarian, said there could be other infections in the state.

"Anytime we have a discovery, there's always the possibility that others haven't been found yet," he said. "The best thing we can do is ensure we follow all of the biosecurity procedures.

Business on 06/21/2014

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