Last month the U.S. Department of Agriculture Animal Plant Health Inspection Service issued a Federal Order requiring swine operations, veterinarians and laboratories to report any known instances of novel swine enteric coronavirus infection, including porcine epidemic diarrhea virus and porcine deltacoronavirus. PEDv is a virus that has been found in North Carolina and the United States since May of last year, and until the federal order was issued on June 5, it fell under voluntary reporting rules in this country.
“While we have had robust voluntary reporting compliance by our industry here in North Carolina for a year now, USDA felt the need to standardize the reporting framework on a national level,” said State Veterinarian David Marshall. “The goal is to clarify who needs to do the reporting and get everyone reporting the same types of information to state and federal offices.”
Requirement No. 1 – The Federal Order requires producers, veterinarians and diagnostic laboratories to report all laboratory-confirmed cases of PEDv and other novel swine enteric coronavirus diseases to USDA or state animal health officials.
Actions – As soon as a case is confirmed, the laboratory will electronically report positive test results to a USDA-APHIS database. The producer will be notified by a state or federal veterinary official to gather additional information, including premises identification number, date the sample was collected, type of unit being sampled (sow, nursery, finisher), test methods used to make the diagnosis and diagnostic test results. Producers who have animals with suspect clinical signs can contact the Office of the State Veterinarian at 919-733-7601 for assistance.
Requirement No. 2 – The Federal Order also requires that operations reporting these viruses work with a veterinarian to develop and implement a herd management plan to address the virus and prevent its spread. Plans should be based on industry-recommended best practices, and include disease monitoring through testing and biosecurity measures to reduce virus shed in affected animals, prevent further spread of the disease, and enable continued movement of animals for production and processing. Federal funding assistance will be available to farmers and veterinarians to support these activities, although specific details are not yet available.
Actions – The herd management plan must be filed with the Office of the State Veterinarian and USDA-APHIS, and will address employee and visitor biosecurity enhancements; the disease status of swine coming onto a site; cleaning and disinfection of facilities; disinfection of trucks and trucking personnel; as well as feed components.
These viruses do not pose any risk to human health or food safety, and are commonly detected in countries around the world.