DES MOINES, Iowa – It might seem like old news, but porcine epidemic diarrhea virus is still a topic of conversation at the 2015 World Pork Expo in Des Moines through Friday. It?s factoring into seminars on disease management for producers, and shows up in advertisements as you flip through the show guide.
Vice President of Pork Analysis with EMI analytics, Steve Meyer, says while this year has seen less of an impact than past years, producers still have some concerns.
?One of the reasons we didn?t have that impact this last winter was immunity levels in herds that went through breaks a year ago,? Meyer explains. ?A lot of those females will be gone by this fall. And so the question is: how high will those immunity levels be? There?ve been a lot of farms that, any of the gilts they?ve brought in, they?ve exposed to the disease, so they have some immunities, but we don?t know how high those triator levels will be, and so there?s still still some trepidation about PEDv going forward. We do know how to manage it better. We?ve learned a lot in the last year and a half.?>
Meyer adds that biosecurity has improved in the last few years, meaning even if porcine epidemic diarrhea virus does show up again, the better understanding of how to handle it will likely pay off.
Producers are still understandably worried, but what about the hog markets; are they trading those concerns?
?I don?t think they are right now,? Meyer says. ?I think right now they?re looking at this kind of like PEDv is in fact in the rearview mirror. So, if we get into the fall and we start hearing a significantly larger number of breaks than a year before, we?ll probably get some positive impact on markets at that point, but I?m not sure the market has thought that far ahead on PEDv at this point. Those impacts wouldn?t be until spring and summer of 2016.?
To hear more about porcine epidemic diarrhea virus from the 2015 World Pork Expo in Des Moines, click the audio player above this story.
