Findings released on PEDv in Mexico

The report puts the morbidity of animals at three on a scale of one to five, with mortality at two out of five, however there were no statistics on the number of animals affected so far due to missing data.

Following the notification of unusual mortality, mainly in piglets, in the central-western area of Mexico, with evidence suggesting it was down to PEDv, the country’s official veterinary services, in co-ordination with farmers, began an epidemiological sampling programme in farrow-to-finish farms, fattening farms, breeding farms, backyard farms and slaughterhouses with clinical evidence.

A total of 2,309 samples were tested, using the real-time reverse transcriptase/polymerase chain reaction (RRT-PCR) test, in 19 federal entities between August 2013 and May 2014. The findings demonstrated that only 30% of the samples proved positive for PEDv, "which suggests that there may be some other etiological agent involved in this event, being a multicausal process",​ said the OiE.

Samples from the States of Yucatán and of Oaxaca were negative for the disease.