Deadly pig virus closes in on state

A deadly coronavirus that has killed an estimated 5 million pigs has spread to 26 states including four states that border Arkansas, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

The Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea Virus, or PED virus, a fast-moving virus that causes diarrhea, nausea and death in piglets, is gaining momentum. In January, 1.3 million piglets were lost, according to a report by Pork Checkoff, which tracks the hog production numbers. Cases have been reported in Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas and Tennessee.

“This has become one of the most serious and devastating diseases our pig farmers have faced in decades,” Karen Richter, president of the National Pork Board, said in the report.

To combat the spread of the virus, the National Pork Board and Canadian-based research facility, Genome Alberta, have contributed more than $1 million in research funding.

Though the cause of the virus is unknown, researchers do know that the virus spreads through transport of the animals and ingesting contaminated manure, said Tom Burkgren, veterinarian and executive director of the American Association of Swine Veterinarians.

Since May, when the virus was first discovered in the U.S., researchers have been scrambling to find the cause and create a vaccine.

“It is possible that we do not know all the routes of transmission,” Burkgren said. “We have seen some issues with contaminated protein plasma.”

Plasma protein, a supplement given to piglets to help wean them from their mothers, has been a point of debate by those in the industry regarding the spread of the virus.

The National Renderers Association said that the rendering process, which heats the plasma protein to 175 degrees Fahrenheit, would facilitate the “deactivation” of the virus. However, in Canada, the disease was recreated from the heated protein in a lab setting.

On Wednesday, the American Association of Swine Veterinarians, National Pork Producers Council, National Pork Board and feed industry associations will meet to discuss new measures to stop the spread of the disease.

“The feed companies are taking this very seriously -they don’t want to be responsible for selling contaminated feed,” Burkgren said.

While no swine in Arkansas has tested positive for the virus, Jerry Masters, executive vice president of the Arkansas Pork Producers Association, said now that the virus has entered surrounding states, Arkansas eventually will see cases.

“It’s not a matter of if it will happen, it’s a matter of when,” he said. “We are concerned. We are worried about keeping it out of the state and we are doing everything we can to educate growers in the state on biosecurity.”

“No one, at this point, knows where it comes from or how to combat it,” said Jeremy Powell, professor and veterinarian in the department of animal science at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville. “We’re pretty concerned because there could be up to a 100 percent death loss if we get an outbreak.”

Show season will begin in the next two months, and with the influx of pigs that will enter the state, the Arkansas Pork Producers Association is on high alert.

To bring a pig into the state for a show, the grower must provide health papers that state that no pigs on the farm have tested positive for the virus in the past 60 days, Masters said.

Arkansas ranks 22nd in the U.S. for pork production, with 1.2 million pigs raised in the state each year.

Business, Pages 27 on 03/13/2014

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