Source:  MEATINGPLACE, 3/20/15

There were 58 new premises confirmed positive for porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV) in the week ended March 14, up from 31 new cases the prior week, according to the latest update from USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.

A report by the American Association of Swine Veterinarians tracking PEDV accessions, or the number of positive cases tested at veterinary diagnostic labs, also showed an uptick in the latest week at 158 cases.

However, new accessions cases are down from weekly peaks above 300 reported at this time last year, the swine veterinarians’ update showed.

PEDV in recent months has been far less deadly to piglets than it was a year ago, and a larger-than-anticipated hog supply may strain slaughter capacity by the fourth quarter of 2015, according to Steve Meyer, head of Paragon Economics and co-author of the Daily Livestock Report.

Purdue University agricultural economist Chris Hurt noted in a recent report that pork production was down only 2 percent in 2014 and that live hog prices have reached five-year lows in recent weeks as fears of PEDV’s impact waned. Pork supplies could be up 6-7 percent this year, he said.

“Pork producers need to be cautious about further expansion until more information can be gathered. The first question is how important will (PEDV) losses be to hog numbers this year, and secondly has the industry already expanded more than USDA picked up in the December Hogs and Pigs report?” Hurt wrote.

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