The executive director of the American Association of Swine Veterinarians says the colder winter months will provide the true test of the effectiveness of stepped up biosecurity in containing the spread of Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea in the U.S.
Tests conducted by the USDA’s National Veterinary Service Laboratory have confirmed the presence of the Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea Virus at Utah’s largest hog farm making that state the latest to become infected.
Dr. Tom Burkgren, the executive director of the American Association of Swine Veterinarians, notes through the summer we’ve seen a definite downturn in the number of new cases being reported, Utah being the exception.
The standard call for increased biosecurity I think has been answered and followed by a number of systems.
This has been my mantra ever since really the beginning is tighten up your biosecurity, step back and then tighten it up again and I think that is still really of essence for producers to keep the virus out.
If you do get the virus I think that you need to be aggressive in trying to get the viral load down on your farm, stimulate that sow immunity and try to get a negative flow of pigs coming out as quickly as possible so you’re back to baseline production.
The true test is going to be coming this fall and winter to see how effective those are.
I’ve talked to several veterinarians, some of whom are pretty optimistic.
They feel like biosecurity is excellent right now but again we’re kind of holding our breath waiting to go into the cooler months and still see whether or not that biosecurity is as effective as we hope it is.
Dr. Burkgren acknowledges the identification of PED in Utah does raise concern.
He says as of yet we’re still not sure how the virus got in.
