The short term objective of this project was to yield better understanding of the epidemiology and field ecology of PEDv and the relative impact of specific management decisions on the risks of infection. The long term objective was to facilitate business continuity by building capacity to enable the industry to quickly detect and have the ability to respond to an emerging pathogen.
With the assistance of this research project, the Swine Health Monitoring Project (SHMP) currently includes approximately 2.5 million sows and 998 sow herds (approximately 50% of the US sow inventory). The power of the project was exemplified recently when participants agreed to also share frequency of detection of Seneca Valley virus.
PRRS and PED clustered in time and space between the fall and winter of 2013 through the spring of 2014. At the farm level, being in swine dense areas within disease clusters increased the risk of becoming infected with either disease and may be, in part, explained by the use of contracted trucking. Conversely, high biosecurity including bio-aerosol filtration reduced the risks. Therefore, efforts could be directed at identifying better ways of implementing strict biosecurity practices that are common among filtered farms, especially if contracted trucking is employed, as a means mitigating the effects of these pathogens in the United States of America.
Of 429 herds with PED virus that achieved the stable state of weaning PEDv PCR negative pigs, the median time was 28 weeks, ranging from 7 – 64 weeks. A median of 2.7 piglets / inventoried sow were not weaned and the average time required to recover to baseline production was 10 weeks in 183 herds. Herd infected in quarters 3 or 4 of the year had approximately twice the negative impact. These data are valuable for veterinarians in advising clients on the anticipated impact and time to re-achieve a stable state with regards to PEDv.
Bob Morrison
[email protected]
612-625-9276
