A deadly disease is spreading rapidly through the nation’s pig population, killing hogs by the millions and posing a major threat to the U.S. pork industry. Called Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea Virus, or PEDv, it’s as nasty as it sounds: it causes vomiting and diarrhea in piglets and is nearly always fatal. Pre-weaning it has a 100 percent mortality rate.
Karen Richter, president of the National Pork Board, calls PEDv ”one of the most serious and devastating diseases our pig farmers have faced in decades.”
In recent months, the federal government, along with research and industry experts, have ramped up their efforts to contain the disease. Here’s what you need to know about the continued threat:
When did this become a thing?
PEDv is a global issue, but the first documented in the U.S. was discovered a year ago. Since then, it’s spread fast, hitting 30 states and killing as estimated 8 million pigs, or a full 10 percent of the nation’s herd. As Rodney “Butch” Baker, a swine biosecurity specialist at Iowa State University, explained to Reuters, “Something like a tablespoon of PEDv infected manure is roughly enough to infect the entire U.S. hog herd.”
The outbreak peaked this past March, and earlier this month the USDA pledged $26 million to combat the disease.
Can humans get it? No, just pigs. In the 40 or so years it’s been around, it’s never been transferred from animals to humans, and it’s likely to stay that way. According to the USDA, its presence in food won’t make pork-eaters sick.
