Highlights

Symptoms/Transmission/Diagnosis

• Can affect all types of pigs, resulting in dehydration, vomiting and diarrhea (symptoms of PED may be severe in very young piglets to very mild/non-existent in finishing pigs; symptoms of PDCoV are milder)
• Primarily transmitted through feces and direct contact between infected and non-infected animals
• Diagnosis made via PCR testing; symptoms are common to other gastroenteric diseases

Mortality/Recovery

• PEDv: Mortality rates for piglets up to 10 days of age can be up to 100%, dropping to less than 10% for piglets older than 10 days and less than 5% for adult and finishing pigs; infected pigs that survive generally recover within 7-10 days

• PDCoV: Mortality can be elevated, particularly in piglets <14 days old (though generally lower than PED mortality rates); older pigs will normally recover

Prevention/Vaccination/Treatment

• Prevented by proper biosecurity practices (particularly controlling exposure to trailers returning from infected sites)
• Vaccines can be used for PEDv if available to reduce clinical signs
  • Maternal antibodies may be transferred to piglets via colostrum
• No specific treatments available outside of mitigating the effects of dehydration by ensuring plentiful clean water is available at all times
• Depopulation, cleaning and disinfection of affected facilities may be recommended

Risk to Human Health/Food Safety?

• This disease is only infectious to swine and poses no threat to humans
• Pork products from PEDv affected herds are safe to eat

Federally Reportable?

No

PEDv and PDCoV are monitored by SHO under the Swine Health Area Regional Control (SHARC) program. All producers should enroll in the program to facilitate traceability of disease in Ontario. Visit www.swinehealtharc.ca for more information.