Gary Stephens, general manager for Prestage Farms of
Okalahoma, says Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea virus (PEDv) claimed 30,000 newborn
piglets in the company’s barns.
He said mortality rates were 80 to 100 per cent.
Others, such as nearby Seaboard Farms, aren’t talking about
their experiences with the virus, but university researchers say they picked up
evidence of the virus in air samples taken near Seaboard barns.
There have been 155 facilities in Oklahoma infected with
PEDv, second only to Iowa with 181 cases.
The federal agriculture department will be providing its
first update since June this Friday. PEDv is not a reportable disease, so it’s
hard to know how far it has spread or how many farms and hogs are impacted.
Associated Press reports losses total 1.3 million hogs so
far.
Canadians have been on high alert to keep the disease from
spreading here, including advice to truckers to thoroughly clean and disinfect
any trucks they bring back from the U.S.
