'Devastating' Virus Hits Hog Farms

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http://cdn.bighealthreport.com/wp-co...85-220x120.jpgBaby pigs are dying by the tens of thousands this summer because of a virus new to North America that has no cure, and some experts think that number will exceed 1 million.

Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea Virus is similar to stomach flu in humans, causing severe diarrhea and vomiting. But the death rate for baby pigs younger than 7 days old is 100 percent, and for a piglet up to 3 weeks old, the morbidity rate is 90 percent or greater. It drops off the older the pig is.
“The virus causes horrible disease and death loss in these nursing babies,” said Steven Henry, an Abilene, Kan., veterinarian and an expert in swine health. “It is a very dramatic and terrible disease for the producers and the animals, and at this point, there is no prevention, no treatment.”
When baby pigs are infected, the virus damages the lining of their intestines so they cannot retain fluid. They die of acute dehydration, Henry said.
The virus has no effect on the meat of older infected pigs because it is an intestinal disease and is not transmitted to humans, government officials said.
“It is strictly a disease of pigs,” said Lisa Becton, a veterinarian and director of swine health research at the National Pork Board.
Mexico last week restricted imports of live hog from the U.S. because of the virus.
The virus was first found in infected pigs in Colorado and Ohio in April and has since spread rapidly to 11 other states: Arkansas, Iowa, Indiana, Illinois, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Oklahoma, South Dakota and Pennsylvania.
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http://bighealthreport.com/8949/deva...its-hog-farms/



Now what brought this on....I think it is being done on purpose!!!!