Production impact & time to stability in sow herds infected with porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV)

PEDV was first detected in United States in May, 2013. The virus spread through the swine industry and was reported in 30 US states by June, 2014 (Morrison and Goede, 2014). There are limited data describing the impact on production in sow farms. Veterinarians attempt to control the virus in sow herds with a program that stimulates herd immunity. There are no data on how long it takes with this control program to achieve a stable state of consistently produce weaned pigs that are not infected with the virus. This study involved participants and data from an existing program called the Swine Health Monitoring Project. Veterinarians were invited to share production data from 429 herds infected with PEDV. These data, in conjunction with diagnostic reports, were used to estimate the time required for the herd to produce PEDV PCR negative pigs and the production loss. Of the 429 infected herds that achieved the stable state of weaning PEDV PCR negative pigs, the median time was 28 weeks, ranging from 7 to 64 weeks. A median of 2.7 piglets/inventoried sow were not weaned and the average time required to recover to baseline production was 10 weeks in 183 herds. Herd infected in quarters 3 or 4 of the year had approximately twice the negative impact. These data are valuable for veterinarians in advising clients on the anticipated impact and time to re-achieve a stable state with regards to PEDV.