Environmental Testing Helps Pork Producers Target Resources to Prevent PED

Pork producers are turning to environmental testing to enhance biosecurity and better prevent the spread of Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea (PED), a highly contagious virus that poses ongoing risks to swine health.

While overall PED case numbers have declined across age groups, data from the Swine Health Information Center (SHIC) shows that environmental contamination—particularly in transport vehicles and truck wash facilities—remains a significant source of viral detection.

“Environmental sampling for PED has been critical because it shows how widespread the virus may be,” said Dr. Lisa Becton, Associate Director at SHIC. “It allows us to determine if contamination is heavy at truck washes, on vehicles, or even at packing plants. This helps producers and their teams identify where to focus cleaning efforts.”

According to SHIC, environmental testing helps target disinfection protocols more precisely, allowing producers to direct resources toward high-risk areas instead of broadly applying biosecurity measures across all farms. This targeted approach is especially useful given industry-wide challenges such as limited truck wash availability and trailer shortages.

“Not every farm is dealing with PED,” Dr. Becton noted, “so pinpointing problem areas ensures time and resources are used efficiently. Having the data to identify high-risk zones is key to improving transportation biosecurity.”

Beyond PED, SHIC’s latest reports highlight continued concerns with other swine diseases. Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome (PRRS) positivity rates remain above baseline levels in Iowa, Minnesota, South Dakota, and Indiana, with the first detection of PRRS lineage 1C.2 reported in North Carolina. Additionally, PDCoV positivity is elevated in Missouri, Indiana, Ohio, and North Carolina. Moderate increases in Porcine Circovirus types 2 and 3 (PCV2 and PCV3) have also been observed.

The Swine Health Information Center’s most recent domestic and international swine health monitoring reports are available at swinehealth.org.