Virus epidemic kills 1 in 10 pigs in US, still no cure in sight

The non-human-threatening Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea virus (PEDv) has wiped out more than 7 million or 10% of pigs in the US in the past year, crushing the livelihood of farmers while sending pork prices to record highs.

John Goihl, a hog nutritionist in Shakopee, Minnesota, knows a farmer in his state who lost 7,500 piglets just after they were born. In Sampson County, North Carolina, 12,000 of Henry Moore’s piglets died in three weeks. Some 30,000 piglets perished at John Prestage’s Oklahoma operation in the fall of 2013.