Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig announced that a pseudorabies outbreak found in pigs in April has been successfully contained. The discovery was the first time the disease, which mainly affects pigs, was found in the United States’ commercial swine industry since being eradicated in 2004.

Naig explained that the virus was detected at a small commercial facility on April 30, and the origins linked to Texas. Five animals that were moved from Texas to the commercial site in Iowa were determined to have exposure to outdoor wild pigs when they were in Texas.

According to Naig, the animals exposed to the virus were humanely killed, and the bodies were burned. Throughout the summer, officials are going to analyze all parts of the response and determine if any protocols need to be changed moving forward.

Iowa Pork Producers Association’s Pat McGonegle says informing local farmers was also key. “We worked very closely in this particular case educating not only the producers that were in the infected zone, but also producers that were close to it, producers throughout the state,” McGonegle said.

Iowa exports billions of dollars’ worth of pork annually, and a couple of countries took action when the virus was detected. “Mexico took some trade action that limited some products going into their country. Korea, as I understand it, took a limited response,” McGonegle said.

Original reporting: KCCI Des Moines — read the source article.