NGFA donates $60,000 to National Pork Board for PEDv research

The National Grain and Feed Foundation has contributed $60,000 to the National Pork Board to be used to pursue research on the porcine epidemic diarrhea virus that has infected swine herds in the United States.

The virus has infected and killed millions of young pigs on farms of all sizes in 29 states since May 2013, as well as in four Canadian provinces since January 2014. The virus does not affect humans or the safety of consumable pork products.

The NGFF is the National Grain and Feed Association's research and education arm.

The top research priorities for NPB's feed-related research projects are to:

• Investigate the effectiveness and cost of treatments that could be used to mitigate the survival of PEDv and other viruses if present in animal feeds,
• Conduct contamination risk assessments at all steps within the feed processing and delivery chain,
• Develop a substitute for currently used swine bioassay procedures; and
• Continue to investigate the risk of feed systems and other pathways for pathogen entry into the United States.

To view the National Pork Board's PEDv-related research and resources, go to www.pork.org/pedv.