Vet Tail Views

Swine Medicine Update

As you may have heard, there is a bit of an epidemic of a new virus in the swine industry currently.  Seneca Valley Virus (SVV) has been diagnosed in several states in the past few months (but not in Indiana).  There have been multiple cases in both commercial and show pigs.  This virus presents exactly like Foot and Mouth Disease or other similar vesicular diseases that are considered foreign animal diseases (FAD) in the US. 

SVV is not an FAD and therefore does not cause quarantines or other regulatory action.  However, if there are clinical signs of this virus, swine veterinarians will pursue diagnostics to rule out any FAD.  Veterinarians will work with the State Veterinarian and/or USDA APHIS Assistant District Director to review the situation.  Further, the treating herd veterinarian will work closely with the producer to isolate the area, document and collect samples for testing and diagnosis. The majority of animals will recover from this disease in 7-10 days. 

This virus has actually been present in the US since 1988, although very few cases were documented.  To date in 2015, there has been 20-30 SVV positive case submissions associated with clinical signs in swine.  This is not an extremely high number of cases, but is significantly greater than the 2-3 sporadic cases per year typically seen by diagnostic laboratories.  SVV is not known to cause any human disease and meat from infected animals is safe for human consumption.

This event demonstrates the importance of the collective work of veterinarians, producers, and state/federal officials to provide the safest food supply in the world.  If you wish to know more about SVV, please visit the Swine Health Information website at http://www.swinehealth.org/.