Epidemic viral disease spreads in US pig herds
The problem of the spread of the "porcine epidemic diarrhea virus" in US pig herds is still virulent. In the meantime, a certain number of unreported cases of infected herds are also included. The result is a sharply rising curve of up to 130,000 affected animals. This corresponds to an estimated 2.5 to 4.3 % of the average herd. This may not seem like much at first, but it will certainly have an impact on the market in the coming months in the form of lost slaughterings.
The incubation period is 2 to 4 days. Piglets up to 4 weeks old, which have not yet built up immunity, are particularly affected. The mortality rate is almost 100 %. Older infected animals build up self-immunization within 3 to 4 weeks. Nevertheless, growth remains slightly impaired.
There is no danger to humans.
It is still unclear where the virus started and it remains completely unexplained how the disease spreads so quickly. The distances between farms are sometimes quite considerable.
