Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack announced details of the mandatory reporting program for the porcine epidemic diarrhea and delta corona viruses at the World Pork Expo yesterday. He says USDA is providing $26 million to combat these diseases. Nearly $4 million of that is directed to vaccine development and $11 million in cost-share funding will support biosecurity practices. Vilsack also issued a Federal Order requiring reporting of new detections of these viruses to APHIS or state animal health officials….and he is confident in producer cooperation.
USDA’s chief veterinary officer Dr. John Clifford says the program goes into effect immediately but will take about four weeks to implement. He described the information producers will be required to report.
Vilsack says producer information gathered through the program will be kept confidential.
In the last year the industry has estimated PEDV has killed some 7 million piglets and the number of market-ready hogs this summer could fall by more than 10-percent.