Veterinarians at the Swine Vet Center at St. Peter, Minnesota recently conducted a Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea Study. Dr. Steve Tousignant says the studies purpose was to help them understand how long the P-E-D virus lives in the deep manure pits in wean to finish barns in Minnesota and Iowa.
Tousignant says what surprised them from the study results was that barns stayed positive for PED virus for such a long time.
He says to protect against PED virus when pumping manure pits there are some important steps that need to be followed beginning with the clean barns.
Tousignant says PED virus seems to spread quite readily through manure and feces and contaminated areas either in trucks or on farms. He says bio security is critically important and good hygiene needs to be practiced with cleaning of tools, engines and vehicles. It’s also important to disinfect between sites.