Porcine epidemic diarrhea virus – it literally is what it is.
Piglets that contract the disease undergo severe bouts of diarrhea, vomiting and dehydration, resulting in a nearly 100 percent mortality rate. And with the virus spreading across the country, concerns are being raised about lower pork production and higher prices in 2014.
North Carolina ranks No. 2 among states in pork production, with most of that occurring in the eastern part of the state. Statewide, Jones, Greene and Lenoir counties rank No. 5, 6 and 7, respectively, in pork cash receipts as of the latest statistics.
“Yes, there have been some positive cases in Lenoir County,” said Eve Honeycutt of the Lenoir County Cooperative Extension Service. “Because the herds are owned by the integrators, they are taking care of the cases as they come up. They are practicing very strict security, as far as restricting people on and off the farm.”
Integrators are corporations involved in pork production.
Honeycutt said the only victims of the virus are the pigs themselves – cross-species infection and a threat to food supply have thus far been ruled out.
“The disease is not contagious to people – it will not harm people in any way,” Honeycutt said. “It’s just causing a lot of mortality levels for very young pigs. So, it’s just a virus – once the pigs get the virus, the virus just really has to run its course. It’s just like a virus in humans. There’s nothing they can do to cure it.”
“They just have to let it run its course,” she said. “And, that basically means they’re going to lose a lot of pigs while the sow is getting over the virus. So, it’s very contagious.”
Veterinarians Rodger Main and Kent Schwartz of the Iowa State University Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory – writing in National Hog Farmer when the virus started getting significant attention in July – said the virus is found many places in a pig’s life and can infect in small amounts.
“One thimble-full of feces could contain enough virus to infect all the pigs in the United States,” Main and Schwartz wrote. “The PED virus is being detected in samples collected from pig collection points, slaughter facilities, transportation vehicles and innumerable fomites illustrating the vast potential for transmission.”
Older hogs are less likely to suffer as dire consequences and herds can develop a resistance to the virus after two to three weeks.
A U.S. Department of Agriculture report Monday stated the virus as “a source of significant risk” to the national pork industry, and a better view on PED’s effects should be available when the quarterly hogs and pigs report comes out Dec. 27.
Honeycutt said the main effort now is to contain the disease to affected herds and avoid spreading the virus.
“Some of the companies have it, and some of them don’t,” Honeycutt said. “They’re trying their best to keep it that way – they’re trying their best to keep it within the herds each company owns.”
Wes Wolfe can be reached at 252-559-1075 and Wes.Wolfe@Kinston.com. Follow him on Twitter @WolfeReports.
Lenoir County Agriculture Cash Receipts, 2011
Total: $215.7 million
Total livestock: $150.5 million
Hogs: $78 million
Source: State Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services
Statewide Agriculture Cash Receipts, 2011
Total: $10.5 billion
Total livestock: $6.9 billion
Hogs: $2.5 billion
Source: State Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services
Top 10 Counties, Hog Cash Receipts, 2011
Duplin
Sampson
Bladen
Wayne
Jones
Greene
Lenoir
Pender
Pitt
Robeson, Columbus (tied for 10th)
Source: State Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services