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Preparing for PEDv again this winter

It was around this time last year when pork producers started seeing a spike in cases of the Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea virus.  Director of swine health information for the National Pork Board Dr. Lisa Becton says as we head into winter – it is a concern again.  “We don’t know what this weather is going to bring – what’s this winter going to bring,” she says.  “We know the virus survives well in cool, damp conditions.  So we are expecting that we’re going to see cases because of the way the virus is.  And because we know always have turnover in herds with naive populations.”

Becton tells Brownfield good biosecurity practices are still the best form of protection.  “What that is focusing on is making sure we’re not carrying around any contaminated manures,” she says.  “Make sure you keep your equipment clean, disinfected, and dry.  Wearing different coveralls and boots when you’re at the farm compared to when you’re out in the community.”

Becton says that also means looking at how you’re scheduling manure removal on deep pit systems.  “The longer the farm has gone from when you have an infection and when you have to move manure, the less likely you are to have virus that is still alive in that manure,” she says.

More information on protecting your herd can be found at HERE.