Pig News
A terrible pig virus has been spreading rapidly throughout the United States over the past year. It has spread through 29 states already and scientists were confused about how and why it's spreading so rapidly. Thousands of pigs have died from PED (porcine epidemic diarrhea) and is still spreading. Later, they found that it was from Asia. They went through everything they did before to stop pig diseases, like washing their equipment before traveling to other farms, but it still didn't work.
The scientists did know one thing. They knew that the strange virus spread like any other old stomach virus: they had to get infected feces in their mouth. They also knew that it was very strong. "A quarter of a teaspoon of infected feces from a pig with porcine epidemic diarrhea- a thimbleful- can contain 10 million viral particles.That's all it takes to spread it from the bottom of a shoe or a truck tire to an entire herd of pigs, said Edward Dubovi, head of Cornell University's Animal Health Diagnostic Center." (Marnie Eisenstadt,syracuse.com). Scientists think that it's either from dust from the infected farms or pig manure that is brought to other farms for fertilizer.
The pork production is expected to be down by 10% this year. Fairs have done what they can to stop the spread of this virus, like banning female pigs, or sending all pigs to slaughter after the show. Some people, like Nicholas Kron, is scared to take their pigs to shows this year. Some are only taking their market pigs. Hopefully, PED will be stopped soon.
Source: syracuse.com
Pictures: nationalhogfarmer.com, wvagriculture.org
The scientists did know one thing. They knew that the strange virus spread like any other old stomach virus: they had to get infected feces in their mouth. They also knew that it was very strong. "A quarter of a teaspoon of infected feces from a pig with porcine epidemic diarrhea- a thimbleful- can contain 10 million viral particles.That's all it takes to spread it from the bottom of a shoe or a truck tire to an entire herd of pigs, said Edward Dubovi, head of Cornell University's Animal Health Diagnostic Center." (Marnie Eisenstadt,syracuse.com). Scientists think that it's either from dust from the infected farms or pig manure that is brought to other farms for fertilizer.
The pork production is expected to be down by 10% this year. Fairs have done what they can to stop the spread of this virus, like banning female pigs, or sending all pigs to slaughter after the show. Some people, like Nicholas Kron, is scared to take their pigs to shows this year. Some are only taking their market pigs. Hopefully, PED will be stopped soon.
Source: syracuse.com
Pictures: nationalhogfarmer.com, wvagriculture.org