Posted on 04/28/2014 9:21:02 AM PDT by Olog-hai
Last Christmas was one farmer Greg Lear would rather forget.
“Yeah, some merry Christmas,” he said of the December 19th call from his farm manager with news that all the sows, or breeding females, were throwing up and many had diarrhea. The sows survived, but within 96 hours “we probably had 500 little pigs that were dead,” said Lear.
As fate would have it, the Spencer, Iowa, farm he helps run was next in line to be hit by a virus that’s killed several million piglets across the country in the last 12 months. Rising pork prices have more than offset the financial damage, but the unknowns about the disease have farmers fretting that the worst is yet to come.
What killed Lear’s piglets was the Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea virus (PEDv), a disease first reported in 1971 in Britain but never identified in the U.S. until April 2013. Officials believe this strain came from China and, by within 12 months, PEDv cases were reported in 30 states. …
(Excerpt) Read more at nbcnews.com ...
Officials believe this strain came from China????
Could this be.....an example of “germ warfare”?
Is this why bacon is over $5/lb?
These hog barns are typically isolated by a quarter mile from the road,plus the farmers I know use biological safeguards.So how is the virus getting in?
Have to admit the thought crossed my mind.
China is destroying tis country’s food supply and we pay China to do it. We should do to China what Japan did to us. No food comes in from China without being inspected first.
Does it mean food will spoil before it hits the markets? Yup. Oh well. Better then having our food supply deatroyed.
theyve sent us so many batches of poison pet food,, toxic drywall..etc..etc.
this would be something of an ESCALATION particulary if its discovered that the virus can directly affect humans
Youve had an outbreak?
Possibly people are asymptomatic carriers, but nobody is really sure.
Well maybe it woulld make sense not to have such large scale pig farms.
Many are climate controlled. You don’t get in with out boot covers and in some cases Tyvek coveralls. Lot of questions, airborne, insects, feed.....?
Not yet.Closest cases are in Michigan,last I heard.
The feed stocks?
Where do they come from? The Chinese dog food manufacturers?
The National Renderers Association says the carcasses are heated to a minimum of 240 degrees for 40 minutes -- much higher than what’s been proven to kill the virus.
Does anyone else have a problem with this? Isn't this how mad cow disease was spread, feeding animal remains to other animals. Does 240 degrees kill prions?
As I understand it the guy in the article bought a bunch of piglets from someone in China. I suspect the virus came with the bundle.
I was hoping someone would notice that. That kind of stuff ought not be animal feed whatsoever. Only creatures with low-pH stomach acid, e.g. the scavengers (crows, condors, vultures, etc.) can handle such stuff as food.
Rising pork prices have more than offset the financial damage, but the unknowns about the disease have farmers fretting that the worst is yet to come.’
WHAT??? High price with 0 pigs from a sow makes up for low price with 9 pigs per sow. BS
China bought Smithfield last year. Don’t know if that answers it or not.
Many are indoors now so it would be more difficult to spread. Feed trucks, birds, etc... could spread it outside and it get carried inside.
Bacon prices are taking an emotional toll on the rest of us.
Bacon prices are taking an emotional toll on the rest of us.
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