Two research organizations in the United States say genetic
material of Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea virus in spray-dried blood plasma does
not sicken piglets with the disease.
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) said in a statement it released Monday that a study it conducted "demonstrated that the porcine
blood plasma in question contained PED virus capable of causing disease in
pigs.
"However, the study could not demonstrate that the feed pellets containing
the blood plasma were capable of causing disease.”
Grand Valley Fortifiers of Cambridge pulled its nursery-pig
rations that included blood plasma from the United States off the market as
soon as it learned that some researchers were speculating it could spread the
disease.
Adding to the speculation was the wide geographic spread of
outbreaks in Ontario on farms that had no apparent connections or common
sources of traffic other than feed. That’s also apparently the case with the
sole outbreak on Prince Edward Island.
The research on feeds in the United States was done at the federal
agriculture department’s facilities and at the University of Minnesota.
Both have concluded that feed is not likely to spread the
disease.
When fed to piglets, the USDA report says, those animals fed
complete feed did not appear to produce the virus at all.
Those that were fed only porcine plasma did have PEDv
present, although only “a couple of pigs” actually became ill with “a little
diarrhea” out of 12 tested.
However, “these results are preliminary as the groups will
continue to be followed and tested for antibodies in coming weeks,” the USDA
report said.
Research at the University of Minnesota showed that feed
samples that had tested positive for PEDv genetic material seemed to inoculate
the piglets, and they did not become ill.
“The results from this bioassay indicate that feed can
contain PEDV genetic material that is detectable by PCR but is not infectious,”
the veterinary diagnostic lab there reported.
