Health

Last week the National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) submitted comments in support of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Wildlife Services’ proposal for a national feral swine damage management program. In its comments, NPPC called for immediate action. NPPC stated the expanded national feral swine damage management program was long overdue, and inaction would increase the risk of damage to agricultural and environmental sectors....More

In less than three weeks since the positive identification of Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea Virus (PEDV) in the United States, the National Pork Board has approved $450,000 in Checkoff funds to help speed research into finding answers to this new disease threat facing the domestic pork industry. This amount, coupled with funds just approved by the Iowa Pork Producers Association's research committee, brings the current total devoted to PEDV research to $527,000 from the two producer-based organizations....More

Diarrhea in pigs is common. Outbreaks of diarrhea can be caused by many different infectious agents as well as a host of noninfectious causes and risk factors. Accurately diagnosing the cause(s) of diarrhea by clinical examination is challenging because the characteristics of feces are not specific for a particular cause. More than one cause or risk factor may be present. The list of infectious contributors is fairly long and has recently increased with introduction of a disease new to the United States. Known as porcine epidemic diarrhea (PED), this diarrhea is caused by a virus known as porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV)....More

Iowa State University veterinarian Scott Hurd clarifies in the blog below that placing the blame on USDA for antibiotic-resistant strains of salmonella is ill-placed and mischaracterizes the problem of antibiotic resistance....More

The Kansas State University Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory is now accepting samples for diagnostic testing for porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV), which has been recently confirmed in the United States. Laboratory testing is the only known way to diagnose the virus. The diagnostic laboratory has assembled a team of virologists, molecular diagnosticians and pathologists to rapidly identify the virus....More