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USDA: Tote bags possible PEDv carrier

USDA investigators say tote bags used for transporting pig feed may have been the way three coronaviruses, including Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea Virus (PEDV), entered the United States.

The agency’s Animal Plant and Health Inspection Service (APHIS) issued a report this week saying those flexible intermediate bulk containers are the top suspects among possible ways the viruses got to the U.S.  Those containers are designed to be reused and the report says the viruses could stay active amid transport.

Investigations early on suspected feed was associated with PEDv infected herds. However, APHIS points out that there has been no definitive link found between the bags and PEDV infection.