Thursday, April 24, 2014

Australian pork industry: US needs stricter PED virus protocols

    A leader in the Australian pork industry has criticized the United States and praised Canada for their efforts to prevent the spread of porcine epidemic diarrhea (PED) virus. Darryl D’Souza, general manager of research and innovation forAustralian Pork Limited, says he believes that the U.S. biosecurity protocols have not been strict enough to limit the spread of the deadly virus.
    PED virus, which can have up to a 100 percent mortality rate in piglets, has been detected in 30 states since being discovered in the U.S. in May 2013. In January 2014, PED virus was confirmed in Canada.
    D’Souza indicated that reporting of PED virus could very well have helped the situation, reports ABC. U.S. officials have not made reporting the virus mandatory, although mandatory PED virus reporting is now being considered by the USDA.
    "Very early on in the piece, the authorities (in the U.S.) deemed it not to be a notifiable disease and that in some ways prevented a possible collection of accurate data that may have even removed some of the preparedness," he said. "Canada, on the other hand, has taken a very different approach and has made it notifiable, so as soon as you have any symptoms, you have to report it. That allows the authorities to take the necessary precautions in terms of quarantining sites, preventing feed trucks going out, preventing movement of animals and things like that."

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