The Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea virus that killed more than 6 million piglets in a U.S. outbreak that began in 2013 “could survive a trip around the world, if it catches the right ride,” reports Harvest Public Media.
The research, by Scott Dee of Pipestone Veterinary Services, suggests a second route for the disease to reach U.S. herds. The virus is a close match for a virus in Chinese herds, leading to speculation that it came from those herds. The USDA suggested last year that PEDV was carried in fabric shipping totes. Dee found PEDV survived in soymeal, lysine, Vitamin D and choline chloride, but not in an empty shipping container.
Harvest Public Media quoted Dee as saying, “It’s not the container that these things are traveling in. It’s potentially the ingredient or the contents of the container that allows the virus to survive.” The USDA said Dee’s research supported its ideas on ways the virus could be transported, but that there is no conclusive evidence yet that PEDV piggybacked on either the containers or in contaminated feed ingredients.